HARRY     M<    Q   y   i    ^   t 


ijsw.w>wyinimsht,fi!^wrj^s^fr^\it7,^'.:j^.i :  .  ■.■■ 


■•'■■s-:r>c.ix<s.- 


LIBRARY 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

SANTA  BARBARA 


PRESENTED  BY 

HARRY  MCGUIRE 


At   till'   coiiiniaiiil   of   thf   gin'i-ii.    IJak'iKh   repi-ateil  ttie  cflcbrated  vision  of 


JKIenilworth  ^^^^^^^^ 
By  ^  ^   -^  ^   Sir  Walter  Scott 


Chicago  and  New  York  «  «  « 
Rand,  McNally  &  Company 


INTEODUCTIOI^  TO  KENILWOETH. 


A  CERTAIN  degree  of  success,  real  or  supposed,  in  the  deline- 
ation of  Queen  Mary,  natiu-ally  induced  the  Author  to  attempt 
something  similar  respecting  "her  sister  and  her  foe,"  the 
celebrated  Elizabeth.  He  will  not,  however,  pretend  to  have 
approached  the  task  with  the  same  feelings ;  for  the  candid 
Kobertson  himself  confesses  having  felt  the  prejudices  with 
which  a  Scottishman  is  tempted  to  regard  the  subject;  and 
what  so  liberal  a  historian  avows,  a  poor  romance-wi'iter  dares 
not  disown.  But  he  hopes  the  influence  of  a  prejudice  almost 
as  natural  to  him  as  his  native  air  will  not  be  found  to  have 
greatly  affected  the  sketch  he  has  attempted  of  England's 
Elizabeth.  I  have  endeavoured  to  describe  her  as  at  once  a 
high-minded  sovereign  and  a  female  of  passionate  feelings, 
hesitating  betwixt  the  sense  of  her  rank  and  the  duty  she  owed 
her  subjects  on  the  one  hand,  and  on  the  other  her  attachment 
to  a  nobleman  who,  in  external  qualifications  at  least,  amply 
merited  her  favour.  The  interest  of  the  story  is  thrown  upon 
that  period  when  the  sudden  death  of  the  first  Coimtess  of 
Leicester  seemed  to  open  to  the  ambition  of  her  husband  the 
opportunity  of  sharing  the  crown  of  his  sovereign. 

It  is  possible  that  slander,  which  very  seldom  favours  the 
memories  of  persons  ia  exalted  stations,  may  have  blackened 
the  character  of  Leicester  with  darker  shades  than  really  be- 
longed to  it.  But  the  almost  general  voice  of  the  times  at- 
tached the  most  foul  suspicions  to  the  death  of  the  unfortunate 
coimtess,  more  especially  as  it  took  place  so  very  opportunely 
for  the  indulgence  of  her  lover's  ambition.  If  we  can  trust 
Ashmole's  Antiqxdties  of  Brrloiliire,  there  was  but  too  much 
ground  for  the  traditions  which  charge  Leicester  with  the 
murder  of  his  wife.     In  the  following  extract  of  the  passage, 


6  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

the  reader  will  find  tlie  authority  I  had  for  the  story  of  the 
romance : 

*'  At  the  west  end  of  the  church  is  the  ruins  of  a  manor,  anciently  belong- 
ing (as  a  cell,  or  place  of  removal,  as  some  report)  to  the  monks  of  Abing- 
ton.  At  the  Dissolution,  the  said  manor,  or  lordship,  was  conveyed  to 
one Owen  (I  believe),  the  possessor  of  Godstow  then. 

"  In  the  hall,  over  the  chimney,  I  find  Abington  arms  cut  in  stone,  viz. 
a  patonee  between  four  martletts  ;  and  also  another  escutcheon,  viz.  a  lion 
rampant,  and  several  miters  cut  in  stone  about  the  house.  There  is  also 
in  the  said  house  a  chamber  called  Dudley's  chamber,  where  the  Earl  of 
Leicester's  wife  was  murdered,  of  which  this  is  the  story  following: 

"jRobert  Dudley,  Earl  of  Leicester,  a  very  goodly  personage,  and  singu- 
larly well  featured,  being  a  great  favourite  to  Queen  Elizabeth,  it  was 
thought,  and  commonly  reported,  that,  had  he  been  a  bachelor  or  widower, 
the  Queen  would  have  made  him  her  husband  ;  to  this  end,  to  free  him- 
self of  all  obstacles,  he  commands,  or  perhaps,  with  fair,  flattering  in- 
treaties,  desires  his  wife  to  repose  herself  here  at  his  servant  Anthony 
Forster's  house,  who  then  lived  in  the  aforesaid  manor-house ;  and  also 
prescribed  to  Sir  Richard  Varney  (a  prompter  to  this  design),  at  his  com- 
ing hither,  that  he  should  first  attempt  to  poison  her,  and  if  that  did  not 
take  effect,  then  by  any  other  way  whatsoever  to  dispatch  her.  This,  it 
seems,  was  proved  by  the  report  of  Dr.  Walter  Bayly,  sometime  fellow  of 
New  College,  then  living  in  Oxford,  and  professor  of  physic  in  that  uni- 
versity ;  who,  because  he  would  not  consent  to  take  away  her  life  by  poison, 
the  earl  endeavoured  to  displace  him  from  the  court.  "This  man,  it  seems, 
reported  for  most  certain  that  there  was  a  practice  in  Cumnor  among  the 
conspirators  to  have  poisoned  this  poor  innocent  lady  a  little  before  she 
was  killed,  which  was  attempted  after  this  manner: — They  seeing  the  good 
(ady  sad  and  heavy  (as  one  that  well  knew  by  her  other  handling  that  her 
death  was  not  far  off),  began  to  perswade  her  that  her  present  disease  was 
abundance  of  melancholy  and  other  humours,  etc.,  and  therefore  would 
needs  counsel  her  to  take  some  potion,  which  she  absolutely  refusing  to  do, 
as  still  suspecting  the  worst ;  whereupon  they  sent  a  messenger  on  a  day 
(unawares  to  her)  for  Dr.  Bayly,  and  intreated  him  to  perswade  her  to 
take  some  little  potion  by  his  direction,  and  they  would  fetch  the  same  at 
Oxford  ;  meaning  to  have  added  something  of  their  own  for  her  comfort, 
as  the  doctor  upon  just  cause  and  consideration  did  suspect,  seeing  their 
great  importunity,  and  the  small  need  the  lady  had  of  physic,  and  there- 
fore he  peremptorily  denied  their  request ;  misdoubting  (as  he  afterwards 
reported)  least,  if  they  had  poisoned  her  under  the  name  of  his  potion,  he 
might  after  have  been  hanged  for  a  colour  of  their  sin,  and  the  doctor  re- 
mained still  well  assured  that,  this  way  taking  no  effect,  she  would  not 
long  escape  their  violence,  which  afterwards  happened  thus.  For  Sir 
Richard  Varney  above-said  (the  chief  projector  in  this  design),  who,  by 
the  earl's  order,  remained  that  day  of  her  death  alone  with  her,  with  one 
man  only  and  Forster,  who  had  that  day  forcibly  sent  away  all  her  ser- 
vants from  her  to  Abington  market,  about  3  miles  distant  from  this 
place — they  (I  say,  whether  first  stifling  her  or  else  strangling  her)  after- 
wards flung  her  down  a  pair  of  stairs  and  broke  her  neck,  using  much  vio- 
lence upon  her  ;  but,  however,  though  it  was  vulgarly  reported  that  she  by 
chance  fell  downstairs  (but  yet  without  hurting  her  hood  that  was  upon 


INTRODUCTION  TO  KENILWORTH.  •     7 

her  head),  yet  the  inhabitants  will  tell  you  there  that  she  was  conveyed 
from  her  usual  chamber  where  she  lay  to  another  where  the  bed's  head  of 
the  chamber  stood  close  to  a  privy  postern  door,  where  they  in  the  night 
came  and  stifled  her  in  her  bed,  bruised  her  head  very  much,  broke  her 
neck,  and  at  length  flung  her  downstairs,  thereby  believing  the  world 
would  have  thought  it  a  mischance,  and  so  have  blinded  their  villany. 
But  behold  the  mercy  and  justice  of  God  in  revenging  and  discovering  this 
lady's  murder,  for  one  of  the  persons  that  was  a  coadjutor  in  this  murder 
was  afterwards  taken  for  a  felony  in  the  marches  of  Wales,  and  offering  to 
publish  the  manner  of  the  aforesaid  murder,  was  privately  made  away  in 
the  prison  by  the  earl's  appointment ;  and  Sir  Richard  Varney,  the  other, 
dying  about  the  same  time  in  London,  cried  miserably,  and  blasphemed 
God,  and  said  to  a  person  of  note  (who  hath  related  the  same  to  others 
since),  not  long  before  his  death,  that  all  the  devils  in  hell  did  tear  him  in 
pieces.  Forster,  likewise,  after  this  fact,  being  a  man  formerly  addicted 
to  hospitality,  company,  mirth,  and  music,  was  afterwards  observed  to 
forsake  all  this,  [and]  with  much  melancholy  and  pensiveness  (some  say 
with  madness)  pined  and  drooped  away.  The  wife  also  of  Bald  Butter, 
kinsman  to  the  earl,  gave  out  the  whole  fact  a  little  before  her  death. 
Neither  are  these  following  passages  to  be  forgotten,  that  as  soon  as  ever 
she  was  murdered,  they  made  great  haste  to  bury  her  before  the  coroner 
had  given  in  his  inquest  (which  the  earl  himself  condemned  as  not  done 
advisedly),  which  her  father,  or  Sir  John  Robertsett  (as  I  suppose),  hear- 
ing of,  came  with  all  speed  hither,  caused  her  corps  to  be  taken  up,  the 
coroner  to  sit  upon  her,  and  further  enquiry  to  be  made  concerning  this 
business  to  the  full ;  but  it  was  generally  thought  that  the  earl  stopped  his 
mouth,  and  made  up  the  business  betwixt  them ;  and  the  good  earl,  to 
make  plain  to  the  world  the  great  love  he  bare  to  her  while  alive,  what  a 
grief  the  loss  of  so  virtuous  a  lady  was  to  his  tender  heart,  caused  (though 
the  thing,  by  these  and  other  means,  was  beaten  into  the  heads  of  the 
principal  men  of  the  University  of  Oxford)  her  body  to  be  reburied  in  St. 
Maries  church  in  Oxford  with  great  pomp  and  solemnity.  It  is  remark- 
able, when  Dr.  Babington  (the  earl's  chaplain)  did  preach  the  funeral  ser- 
mon, he  tript  once  or  twice  in  his  speech,  by  recommending  to  their 
memories  that  virtuous  lady  so  pitifully  murdered,  instead  of  saying  piti- 
fully slain.  This  earl,  after  all  his  murders  and  poisonings,  was  himself 
poisoned  by  that  which  was  prepared  for  others  (some  say  by  his  wife)  at 
Cornbury  Lodge  before  mentioned  (though  Baker  in  his  chronicle  would 
have  it  at  Killingworth),  anno  1588.  "  » 

The  same  accusation  lias  been  adopted  and  circulated  by  tlie 
author  of  Leicester's  Commonwealth,  a  satire  *  written  directly 

»  Ashmole's  Antiquities  of  Berkshire,  vol.  i.  p.  149.  The  tradition  as  to 
Leicester's  death  was  thus  communicated  by  Ben  Jonsonto  Drummond  of 
Hawthornden:  "  The  Earl  of  Leicester  gave  a  bottle  of  liquor  to  his  lady, 
which  he  willed  her  to  use  in  any  faintness,  which  she,  after  his  return 
from  court,  not  knowing  it  was  poison,  gave  him,  and  so  he  died." — Ben 
Jonson's  Information  to  Drummond  of  Hawthornden,  MS. — Sir  Robert  Sib- 
bald's  copy. 

a  This  satire  was  written  by  the  notorious  Jesuit,  Robert  Parsons  and 


8  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

against  the  Earl  of  Leicester,  which  loaded  him  with  the  most 
horrid  crimes,  and,  among  the  rest,  with  the  murder  of  his 
first  wife.  It  was  alluded  to  in  the  Yorlcshire  Tragedy ^  a 
play  erroneously  ascribed  to  Shakspeare,  where  a  baker,  who 
determines  to  destroy  all  his  family,  throws  his  wife  down- 
stairs with  this  allusion  to  the  supposed  murder  of  Leicester's 
lady: 

The  only  way  to  charm  a  woman's  tongue 
Is,  break  her  neck — a  politician  did  it. 

The  reader  wiU  find  I  have  borrowed  several  incidents  as 
well  as  names '  from  Ashmole  and  the  more  early  authorities ; 
but  my  first  acquaintance  with  the  history  was  through  the 
more  pleasing  medium  of  verse.  There  is  a  period  in  youth 
when  tlie  mere  power  of  numbers  has  a  more  strong  effect  on 
ear  and  imagination  than  in  more  advanced  life.  At  this 
season  of  immature  taste  the  Author  was  g^-eatly  delighted 
with  the  poems  of  Mickle  and  Langhorne,  poets  who,  though 
by  no  means  deficient  in  the  higher  branches  of  their  art, 
were  eminent  for  their  powers  of  verbal  melody  above  most 
who  have  practised  this  department  of  poetry.  One  of 
those  pieces  of  Mickle,  which  the  Author  was  particularly 
pleased  with,  is  a  ballad,  or  rather  a  species  of  elegy,  on  the 
subject  of  Cumnor  Hall,"  which,  with  others  by  the  same 
author,  were  to  be  found  in  Evans's  Ancient  Ballads  (vol.  iv. 
p.  130),  to  which  work  Mickle  made  liberal  contributions. 
The  first  stanza  especially  had  a  peculiar  species  of  enchant- 
ment for  the  youthful  ear]  of  the  Author,  the  force  of  which 
is  not  even  now  entirely  spent  j  some  others  are  sufficiently 
prosaic. 

Cumnor  Iball, 

The  dews  of  summer  night  did  fall ; 

The  moon,  sweet  regent  of  the  sky, 
Silver'd  the  walls  of  Cumnor  Hall, 

And  many  an  oak  that  grew  thereby. 

was  lai^ely  copied  by  Ashmole  in  his  Antiquities.  These  authorities  were 
perhaps  too  much  relied  upon  by  the  Author  (Lalng). 

»  See  Lockhart's  Life  of  Scott,  vol.  vi.  pp.  266,  2M.         »  See  Note  1. 


INTRODUCTION  TO  KENILWORTH. 

Now  naught  was  heard  beneath  the  skies, 
The  sounds  of  busy  life  were  still, 

Save  an  unhappy  lady's  sighs, 
That  issued  from  that  lonely  pile. 

"Leicester,"  she  cried,  "is  this  thy  love 
That  thou  so  oft  has  sworn  to  me, 

To  leave  me  in  this  lonely  grove, 
Immured  in  shameful  privity  ? 

"  No  more  thou  comest  with  lover's  speed, 

Thy  once  beloved  bride  to  see ; 
But  be  she  alive,  or  be  she  dead, 

I  fear,  stern  earl,  's  the  same  to  thee. 

"  Not  so  the  usage  I  received 
When  happy  in  my  father's  hall; 

No  faithless  husband  then  me  grieved. 
No  chilling  fears  did  me  appal. 

"I  rose  up  with  the  cheerful  morn, 
No  lark  more  blithe,  no  flower  more  gay; 

And,  like  the  bird  that  haunts  the  thorn, 
So  merrily  sung  the  livelong  day. 

*'  If  that  my  beauty  is  but  small. 
Among  court  ladies  all  despised. 

Why  didst  thou  rend  it  from  that  hall, 
Where,  scornful  earl,  it  well  was  prized? 

**  And  when  you  first  to  me  made  suit, 
How  fair  I  was  you  oft  would  say ! 

And,  proud  of  conquest,  pluck' d  the  fruit. 
Then  left  the  blossom  to  decay. 

"  Yes  !  now  neglected  and  despised, 
The  rose  is  pale,  the  lily's  dead  ; 

But  he  that  once  their  charms  so  prized, 
Is  sure  the  cause  those  charms  are  fled. 

*'  For  know,  when  sick'ning  grief  doth  prey^ 
And  tender  love's  repaid  with  scorn, 

The  sweetest  beauty  will  decay, — 
What  floweret  can  endure  the  storm? 

"At  court,  I'm  told,  is  beauty's  throne. 
Where  every  lady's  passing  rare, 

That  Eastern  flowers,  that  shame  the  sun, 
Are  not  so  glowing,  not  so  fair. 

"Then,  earl,  why  didst  thou  leave  the  beds 
Where  roses  and  where  lilies  \ie, 

To  seek  a  primrose,  whose  pale  shades 
Must  sicken  when  those  gauds  are  by? 


10  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

"  'Monjj  rural  beauties  I  was  one, 
Among  the  fields  wild  flowers  are  fair; 

Some  country  swain  might  me  have  wou 
And  thought  ray  beauty  passing  rare. 

"But,  Leicester  (or  I  much  am  wrong), 
Or  'tis  not  beauty  hires  thy  vows  ; 

Rather  ambition's  gilded  crown 
Makes  thee  forget  thy  humble  spouse. 

"  Then,  Leicester,  why,  again  I  plead 
(The  injured  surely  may  repine)— 

Why  didst  thou  wed  a  country  maid. 
When  some  fair  princess  might  be  thine? 

"  Why  didst  thou  praise  my  humble  charms, 
And,  oh  !  then  leave  them  to  decay  ? 

Why  didst  thou  win  me  to  thy  arms. 
Then  leave  me  to  mourn  the  livelong  day  f 

"  The  village  maidens  of  the  plain 

Salute  me  lowly  as  they  go  ; 
Envious  they  mark  my  silken  train. 

Nor  think  a  countess  can  have  woe. 

•'  The  simple  nymphs !  they  little  know 
How  far  more  happy's  their  estate; 
To  smile  for  joy — than  sigh  for  woe— 
To  be  content — than  to  be  great. 

*'  How  far  less  blest  am  I  than  them, 
Daily  to  pine  and  waste  with  care ! 

Like  the  poor  plant,  that,  from  its  steiu 
Divided,  feels  the  chilling  air. 

"  Nor,  cruel  earl.!  can  I  enjoy 
The  humble  charms  of  solitude ; 

Your  minions  proud  my  peace  destroy. 
By  sullen  frowns  or  pratings  rude. 

•*  Last  night,  as  sad  I  chanced  to  stray, 
The  village  death-bell  smote  my  ear ; 

They  wink'd  aside,  and  seemed  to  say. 
*  Countess,  prepare,  thy  end  is  near  I ' 

**  And  now,  while  happy  peasants  sleep, 
Here  I  sit  lonely  and  forlorn  ; 

No  one  to  sooth  me  as  I  weep, 
Save  Philomel  on  yonder  thorn. 

"  My  spirits  flag — my  hopes  decay — 
Still  that  dread  death-bell  smites  my  ear  j 

And  many  a  boding  seems  to  say, 
'Countess,  prepare,  thy  end  is  near! '  " 


INTRODUCTION  TO  KENILWORTH.        1j 

Thus  sore  and  sad  that  lady  grieved, 

In  Cuninor  Hall,  so  lone  and  drear; 
And  many  a  heartfelt  sigh  she  heaved, 

And  let  fall  many  a  bitter  tear. 

And  ere  the  dawn  of  day  appear'd, 

In  Cumnor  Hall,  so  lone  and  drear, 
Full  many  a  piercing  scream  was  heard, 

And  many  a  cry  of  mortal  fear. 

The  death-bell  thrice  was  heard  to  ring, 

An  aerial  voice  was  heard  to  call. 
And  thrice  the  raven  flapp'd  its  wing 

Around  the  towers  of  Cumnor  Hall. 

The  mastiff  howl'd  at  village  door, 

The  oaks  were  shatter'd  on  the  green ; 
Woe  was  the  hour — for  never  more 

That  hapless  countess  e'er  was  seen! 

And  in  that  manor  now  no  more 

Is  cheerful  feast  and  sprightly  ball; 
For  ever  since  that  dreary  hour 

Have  spirits  haunted  Cumnor  Hall. 

The  village  maids,  with  fearful  glance. 

Avoid  the  ancient  moss-grown  wall ; 
Nor  ever  lead  the  merry  dance, 

Among  the  groves  of  Cumnor  Hall. 

Full  many  a  traveller  oft  hath  sigh'd, 

And  pensive  wept  the  countess'  fall, 
As  wand' ring  onwards  they've  espied 

The  haunted  towers  of  Cumnor  Hall. 

AbbotsforDj  1st  March,  1831, 


KENILWORTH. 


CHAPTER.  L 

I  am  an  innkeeper,  and  know  my  grounds, 
And  study  them— brain  o'  man,  I  study  them. 
I  must  have  jovial  guests  to  drive  my  ploughs, 
And  whistling  boys  to  bring  my  harvests  home. 
Or  I  shall  hear  no  flaUs  thwack. 

The  New  Inn. 

It  is  the  privilege  of  tale-tellers  to  open  their  story  in  an 
inn,  the  free  rendezvous  of  all  travellers,  and  where  the  hu- 
mour of  each  displays  itself  without  ceremony  or  restraint. 
This  is  specially  suitable  when  the  scene  is  laid  during  the 
old  days  of  merry  England,  when  the  guests  were  in  some  sort 
not  merely  the  inmates,  but  the  messmates  and  temporary 
companions,  of  miue  host,  who  was  usually  a  personage  of 
privileged  freedom,  comely  presence,  and  good-humour.  Pat- 
ronised by  him,  the  characters  of  the  company  were  placed  in 
ready  contrast;  and  they  seldom  failed,  during  the  emptying 
of  a  six-hooped  pot,  to  throw  off  reserve,  and  present  them- 
selves to  each  other  and  to  their  landlord  with  the  freedom  of 
old  acquaintance. 

The  village  of  Cumnor,  within  three  or  four  miles  of  Oxford, 
boasted,  during  the  eighteenth  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  an  excel- 
lent inn  of  the  old  stamp,  conducted,  or  rather  ruled,  by  Giles 
Gosling,  a  man  of  a  goodly  person  and  of  somewhat  round 
beUy,  fifty  years  of  age  and  upwards,  moderate  in  his  reckon- 
ings, prompt  in  his  payments,  having  a  cellar  of  sound  liquor, 
a  ready  wit,  and  a  pretty  daughter.  Since  the  days  of  old 
Harry  Baillie  of  the  Tabard  in  Southwark,  no  one  had  ex- 
celled Giles  Gosling  in  the  power  of  pleasing  his  guests  of 
every  description;  and  so  great  was  his  fame,  that  to  have 


14  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

been  in  Cumnor  without  wetting  'a  cup  at  tlie  bonny  Black 
Bear  would  have  been  to  avouch  oneself  utterly  indifferent 
to  reputation  as  a  traveller.  A  country  fellow  might  as  well 
return  from  London  without  looking  in  the  face  of  majesty. 
The  men  of  Cumnor  were  proud  of  their  host,  and  their  host 
was  proud  of  his  house,  his  liquor,  his  daughter,  and  himself. 

It  was  in  the  courtyard  of  the  inn  which  called  this  honest 
fellow  landlord  that  a  traveller  alighted  in  the  close  of  the 
evening,  gave  his  horse,  which  seemed  to  have  made  a  long 
journey,  to  the  hostler,  and  made  some  inquiry,  which  pro- 
duced the  following  dialogue  betwixt  the  myrmidons  of  the 
bonny  Black  Bear : 

"What,  ho!  John  Tapster." 

"  At  hand,  Will  Hostler, "  replied  the  man  of  the  spigot, 
showing  himself  in  his  costume  of  loose  jacket,  linen  breeches, 
and  green  apron,  haK  within  and  half  without  a  door,  which 
appeared  to  descend  to  an  outer  cellar. 

"  Here  is  a  gentleman  asks  if  you  draw  good  ale, "  continued 
the  hostler. 

"Beshrew  my  heart  else,"  answered  the  tapster,  "since 
there  are  but  four  miles  betwixt  us  and  Oxford.  Marry,  if 
my  ale  did  not  convince  the  heads  of  the  scholars,  they  would 
soon  convince  my  pate  with  the  pewter  flagon." 

"Call  you  that  Oxford  logic?"  said  the  stranger,  who  had 
now  quitted  the  rein  of  his  horse,  and  was  advancing  towai'ds 
the  inn  door,  when  he  was  encountered  by  the  godly  form  of 
Oiles  Gosling  himself. 

"Is  it  logic  you  talk  of,  sir  guest?"  said  the  host j  "why, 
then,  have  at  you  with  a  downright  consequence — 

The  horse  to  the  rack, 
And  to  fire  with  the  sack." 

"Amen!  with  all  my  heart,  my  good  host,"  said  the 
stranger;  "let  it  be  a  quart  of  your  best  Canaries,  and  give 
me  your  good  help  to  drink  it." 

"  Nay,  you  are  but  in  your  accidence  yet,  sir  traveller,  if 
you  call  on  your  host  for  help  for  such  a  sipping  matter  as  a 
quart  of  sack;  were  it  a  gallon,  you  might  lack  some  neigh- 
bourly aid  at  my  hand,  and  yet  call  yourself  a  toper." 


KENILWORTH.  15 

"  Fear  me  not,"  said  the  guest,  "  I  will  do  my  devoir  as  be- 
comes a  man  who  finds  himself  within  five  miles  of  Oxford; 
for  I  am  not  come  from  the  field  of  Mars  to  discredit  myself 
amongst  the  followers  of  Minerva." 

As  he  spoke  thus,  the  landlord,  with  much  semblance  of 
hearty  welcome,  ushered  his  guest  into  a  large  low  chamber, 
where  several  persons  were  seated  together  in  different  par- 
ties— some  drinking,  some  playing  at  cards,  some  conversing, 
and  some,  whose  business  called  them  to  be  early  risers  on  the 
morrow,  concluding  their  evening  meal,  and  conferring  with 
the  chamberlain  about  their  night's  quarters. 

The  entrance  of  a  stranger  procured  him  that  general  and 
careless  sort  of  attention  which  is  usually  paid  on  such  occa- 
sions, from  which  the  following  results  were  deduced:  The 
guest  was  one  of  those  who,  with  a  well-made  person,  and 
features  not  in  themselves  unpleasing,  are  nevertheless  so  far 
from  handsome  that,  whether  from  the  expression  of  their 
features,  or  the  tone  of  their  voice,  or  from  their  gait  and 
manner,  there  arises,  on  the  whole,  a  disinclination  to  their 
society.  The  stranger's  address  was  bold,  without  being 
frank,  and  seemed  eagerly  and  hastily  to  claim  for  him  a  de- 
gree of  attention  and  deference,  which  he  feared  would  be  re- 
fused, if  not  iustantly  vindicated  as  his  right.  His  attire  was 
a  riding-cloak,  which,  when  open,  displayed  a  handsome  jer- 
kiu  overlaid  with  lace,  and  belted  with  a  buff  girdle,  which 
sustained  a  broadsword  and  a  pair  of  pistols. 

"  You  ride  well  provided,  sir, "  said  the  host,  looking  at  the 
weapons  as  he  placed  on  the  table  the  mulled  sack  which  the 
traveller  had  ordered. 

"Yes,  mine  host;  I  have  found  the  use  on't  in  dangerous 
times,  and  I  do  not,  like  your  modern  grandees,  turn  off  my 
followers  the  instant  they  are  useless." 

"Ay,  sir?"  said  Giles  Gosling;  "then  you  are  from  the 
Low  Countries,  the  land  of  pike  and  caliver?" 

"  I  have  been  high  and  low,  my  friend,  broad  and  wide,  far 
and  near.  But  here  is  to  thee  in  a  cup  of  thy  sack ;  fill  thy- 
self another  to  pledge  me ;  and,  if  it  is  less  than  superlative, 
e'en  drink  as  you  have  brewed." 


16  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

"  Less  than  superlative !"  said  Giles  Gosliag,  drinking  off  the 
cup^  and  smacking  liis  lips  with  an  air  of  ineli'able  relish — 
"  I  know  nothing  of  superlative,  nor  is  there  such  a  wine  at 
the  Three  Cranes,  in  the  Vintry,  to  my  knowledge ;  but  if  you 
find  better  sack  thau  that  in  the  Sheres,  or  in  the  Canaries 
either,  I  would  I  may  never  touch  either  pot  or  penny  more. 
"Why,  hold  it  uj)  betwixt  you  and  the  light,  you  shall  see  the 
little  motes  dance  in  the  golden  liquor  like  dust  in  the  sun- 
beam. But  I  would  rather  draw  wine  for  ten  clowns  than  one 
traveller.     I  trust  your  honour  likes  the  wine?" 

"  It  is  neat  and  comfortable,  mine  host ;  but  to  know  good 
liquor  you  should  driuk  where  the  vine  grows.  Trust  me, 
your  Spaniard  is  too  wise  a  man  to  send  you  the  very  soul  of 
the  grape.  Why,  this  now,  which  you  account  so  choice,  were 
counted  but  as  a  cup  of  bastard  at  the  Groyne  or  at  Port  St. 
Mary's.  You  should  travel,  mine  host,  if  you  wovdd  be  deep 
in  the  mysteries  of  the  butt  and  pottle-pot." 

"  In  troth,  Signior  Guest, "  said  Giles  Gosling,  "  if  I  were  to 
travel  only  that  I  might  be  discontented  with  that  which  I  caa 
get  at  home,  methinks  I  should  go  but  on  a  fool's  errand. 
Besides,  I  warrant  you,  there  is  many  a  fool  can  turn  his 
nose  up  at  good  drink  without  ever  having  been  out  of  the 
smoke  of  Old  England;  and  so  ever  gramercy  mine  own 
fireside." 

"  This  is  but  a  mean  mind  of  yours,  mine  host, "  said  the 
stranger ;  "  I  warrant  me,  all  your  town! oik  do  not  think  so 
basely.  You  have  gallants  among  you,  I  dare  undertake,  that 
have  made  the  Virginia  voyage,  or  taken  a  turn  in  the  Low 
Countries  at  least.  Come,  cudgel  your  memory.  Have  you 
no  friends  in  foreign  parts  that  you  would  gladly  have  tid- 
ings of?" 

"Troth,  sir,  not  I,"  answered  the  host,  "since  ranting 
Bobin  of  Drysandford'was  shot  at  the  siege  of  the  Brill.  The 
devil  take  the  caliver  that  fired  the  ball,  for  a  blyther  lad 
never  filled  a  cup  at  midnight !  But  he  is  dead  and  gone,  and 
I  know  not  a  Soldier,  or  a  traveller,  who  is  a  soldier's  mate, 
that  I  would  give  a  peeled  codling  for." 

"By  the  mass,   that  is  strange.      What!  so   many  of  our 


KEKILWORTH.  17 

brave  English  hearts  are  abroad,  and  you,  who  seem  to  be  a 
man  of  mark,  have  no  friend,  no  kinsman,  among  them?" 

*'  Xay,  if  you  speak  of  kinsmen, "  answered  Gosling,  "  I  have 
one  wild  slip  of  a  kinsman,  who  left  us  in  the  last  year  of 
Queen  Mary;  but  he  is  better  lost  than  found." 

"  Do  not  say  so,  friend,  unless  you  have  heard  ill  of  him 
lately.  Many  a  wild  colt  has  turned  out  a  noble  steed.  His 
name,  I  pray  you?" 

'•  3Iichael  Lambourne, "  answered  the  landlord  of  the  Black 
Bear,  "a  son  of  my  sister's;  there  is  little  pleasure  in  recol- 
lecting either  the  name  or  the  connexion." 

"Michael  Lambourne!"  said  the  stranger,  as  if  endeavour- 
ing to  recollect  himseK,  "  what,  no  relation  to  jMichael  Lam- 
bourne, the  gallant  cavalier  who  behaved  so  bravely  at  the  siege 
of  Venlo  that  Grave  INIaurice  thanked  him  at  the  head  of  the 
army?  Men  said  he  was  an  English  cavalier,  and  of  no  high 
extraction." 

"  It  could  scarcely  be  my  nephew, "  said  Giles  Gosling,  "  for 
he  had  not  the  courage  of  a  hen- partridge  for  aught  but  mis- 
chief." 

"  Oh,  many  a  man  finds  courage  in  the  wars, "  replied  the 
stranger. 

"  It  may  be, "  said  the  landlord ;  "  but  I  would  have  thought 
our  Mike  more  likely  to  lose  the  little  he  had." 

"  The  Michael  Lambourne  whom  I  knew, "  continued  the 
traveller,  "  was  a  likely  fellow :  went  always  gay  and  well- 
attired,  and  had  a  hawk's  eye  after  a  pretty  wench." 

"Our  Michael,"  replied  the  host,  '"'had  the  look  of  a  dog 
with  a  bottle  at  its  tail,  and  wore  a  coat  every  rag  of  which 
was  bidding  good-day  to  the  rest." 

"Oh,  men  pick  up  good  apparel  in  the  wars,"  replied  the 
guest. 

"  Our  Mike, "  answered  the  landlord,  "  was  more  like  to  pick 
it  up  in  a  frippery  warehouse,  while  the  broker  was  looking 
another  way;  and,  for  the  hawk's  eye  you  talk  of,  his  was 
always  after  my  stray  spoons.  He  was  tapster's  boy  here  in 
this  blessed  house  for  a  quarter  of  a  year ;  and  between  mis- 
reckonings,  miscarriages,  mistakes,  and  misdemeanours,  had 
2 


18  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

lie  dwelt  with  me  for  three  months  longer,  I  might  have  pulled 
down  sign,  shut  up  house,  and  given  the  devil  the  key  to 
keep. " 

"  You  would  be  sorry,  after  all, "  continued  the  traveller, 
"  were  I  to  tell  you  poor  Mike  Lambourne  was  shot  at  the  head 
of  his  regiment  at  the  taking  of  a  sconce  near  Maestricht?" 

''  Sorry !  it  would  be  the  blythest  news  I  ever  heard  of  him, 
since  it  would  ensure  me  he  was  not  hanged.  But  let  him 
pass,  I  doubt  his  end  will  never  do  such  credit  to  his  friends ; 
were  it  so,  I  should  say  (taking  another  cup  of  sack),  'Here's 
God  rest  him, '  with  all  my  heart. " 

"  Tush,  man, "  replied  the  traveller,  "  never  fear  but  you 
will  have  credit  by  your  nephew  yet,  especially  if  he  be  the 
Michael  Lambourne  whom  I  knew  and  loved  very  nearly,  or 
altogether,  as  well  as  myself.  Can  you  tell  me  no  mark  by 
which  I  could  judge  whether  they  be  the  same?" 

"  Faith,  none  that  I  can  think  of, "  answered  Giles  Gosling, 
"  unless  that  our  Mike  had  the  gallows  branded  on  his  left 
shoulder  for  stealing  a  silver  caudle-cup  from  Dame  Snort  of 
Hogsditch. " 

*'  Nay,  there  you  lie  like  a  knave,  uncle, "  said  the  stranger, 
slipping  aside  his  ruff,  and  turning  down  the  sleeve  of  his 
doublet  from  his  neck  and  shoulder ;  "  by  this  good  day,  my 
shoulder  is  as  unscarred  as  thine  own." 

"What,  Mike,  boy — Mike!"  exclaimed  the  host;  "and is  it 
thou  in  good  earnest?  Nay,  I  have  judged  so  for  this  half- 
hour,  for  I  knew  no  other  person  would  have  ta'en  half  the 
interest  in  thee.  But,  Mike,  an  thy  shoulder  be  unscathed  as 
thou  sayest,  thou  must  own  that  Goodman  Thong,  the  hang- 
man, was  merciful  in  his  office,  and  stamped  thee  with  a  cold 
iron." 

"  Tush,  uncle,  truce  with  your  jests.  Keep  them  to  season 
your  sour  ale,  and  let  us  see  what  hearty  welcome  thou  wilt 
give  a  kinsman  who  has  rolled  the  world  around  for  eighteeu 
years ;  who  has  seen  the  sun  set  where  it  rises,  and  has  trav- 
elled till  the  west  has  become  the  east." 

"Thou  hast  brought  back  one  traveller's  gift  with  thee, 
Mike,  as  I  well  see ;  and  that  was  what  thou  least  didst  need 


KENILWORTH.  19 

to  travel  for.  I  remember  well,  among  thine  other  qualities, 
there  was  no  crediting  a  word  which  came  from  thy  mouth. " 

"Here's  an  unbelieving  pagan  for  you,  gentlemen!"  said 
Michael  Lambourne,  turning  to  those  who  witnessed  this 
strange  interview  betwixt  uncle  and  nephew,  some  of  whom, 
being  natives  of  the  village,  were  no  strangers  to  his  juvenile 
wildness.  "  This  may  be  called  slaying  a  Cumnor  fatted  calf 
for  me  with  a  vengeance.  But,  uncle,  I  come  not  from  the 
husks  and  the  swine-trough,  and  I  care  not  for  thy  welcome 
©r  no  welcome ;  I  carry  that  with  me  will  make  me  welcome, 
"wend  where  I  will." 

So  saying,  he  pulled  out  a  purse  of  gold,  indifferently  well 
filled,  the  sight  of  which  produced  a  visible  effect  upon  the 
company.  Some  shook  their  heads,  and  whispered  to  each 
other,  while  one  or  two  of  the  less  scrupulous  speedily  began 
to  recollect  him  as  a  school-companion,  a  townsman,  or  so 
forth.  On  the  other  hand,  two  or  three  grave,  sedate-looking 
persons  shook  their  heads,  and  left  the  inn,  hinting  that,  if 
Giles  Gosling  wished  to  continue  to  thrive,  he  should  turn  his 
thriftless,  godless  nephew  adrift  again  as  soon  as  he  could. 
Gosling  demeaned  himself  as  if  he  were  much  of  the  same 
opinion ;  for  even  the  sight  of  the  gold  made  less  impression 
on  the  honest  gentleman  than  it  usually  doth  upon  one  of  his 
calling. 

"Kinsman  Michael,"  he  said,  "put  up  thy  purse.  My 
sister's  son  shall  be  called  to  no  reckoning  in  my  house  for 
supper  or  lodging:  and  I  reckon  thou  wilt  hardly  wish  to 
stay  longer,  where  thou  art  e'en  but  too  well  known." 

"For  that  matter,  uncle,"  replied  the  traveller,  "I  shall 
consult  my  own  needs  and  conveniences.  Meantime,  I  wish 
to  give  the  supper  and  sleeping-cup  to  those  good  townsmen, 
who  are  not  too  proud  to  remember  Mike  Lambourne,  the 
tapster's  boy.  If  you  will  let  me  have  entertainment  for  my 
money,  so;  if  not,  it  is  but  a  short  two  minutes'  walk  to  the 
Hare  and  Tabor,  and  I  trust  our  neighbours  will  not  grudge 
going  thus  far  with  me." 

"  Nay,  Mike, "  replied  his  uncle,  "  as  eighteen  years  have  gone 
over  thy  head,  and  I  trust  thou  art  somewhat  amended  in  thy 


20  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

conditions,  thou  slialt  not  leave  my  house  at  this  hour,  and 
shalt  e'en  have  whatever  in  reason  you  list  to  call  for.  But 
I  would  I  knew  that  that  purse  of  thine,  which  thou  vapour- 
est  of,  were  as  well  come  by  as  it  seems  well  filled. " 

"Here  is  an  uifidel  for  you,  my  good  neighbours!"  said 
Lambourne,  again  appealing  to  the  audience.  "  Here's  a  fel- 
low will  rip  up  his  kinsman's  follies  of  a  good  score  of  years' 
standing.  And  for  the  gold,  why,  sirs,  I  have  been  where  it 
grew,  and  was  to  be  had  for  the  gathermg.  In  the  New 
World  have  I  been,  man — in  the  Eldorado,  where  urchins 
play  at  cherry -pit  with  diamonds,  and  country  wenches  thread 
rubies  for  necklaces,  instead  of  rowan-tree  berries ;  where  the 
pantiles  are  made  of  pure  gold,  and  the  paving-stones  of  virgin 
silver." 

"  By  my  credit,  friend  Mike, "  said  young  Laurence  Gold- 
thred,  the  cutting  mercer  of  Abingdon,  "that  were  a  likely 
coast  to  trade  to.  And  what  may  lawns,  cypruses,  and  ribands 
fetch  where  gold  is  so  plenty?" 

"  Oh,  the  profit  were  unutterable, "  replied  Lambourne,  "  es- 
pecially when  a  handsome  yoimg  merchant  bears  the  pack 
himself ;  for  the  ladies  of  that  clime  are  bona-robas,  and  being 
themselves  somewhat  sunburnt,  they  catch  fire  like  tinder  at  a 
fresh  complexion  like  thine,  with  a  head  of  hair  inclining  to 
be  red." 

"  I  would  I  might  trade  thither, "  said  the  mercer,  chuckling. 

"  Why,  and  so  thou  mayst, "  said  Michael ;  "  that  is,  if  thou 
art  the  same  brisk  boy  who  was  partner  with  me  at  robbing 
the  abbot's  orchard :  'tis  but  a  little  touch  of  alchemy  to  decoct 
thy  house  and  land  into  ready  money,  and  that  ready  money 
into  a  tail  ship,  with  sails,  anchors,  cordage,  and  aU  things 
conforming;  then  clap  thy  warehouse  of  goods  under  hatches, 
put  fifty  good  fellows  on  deck,  with  myself  to  command  them, 
and  so  hoise  topsails,  and  hey  for  the  New  World  1" 

"  Thou  hast  taught  him  a  secret,  kinsman, "  said  Giles  Gos- 
ling, "  to  decoct,  an  that  be  the  word,  his  pound  into  a  penny, 
and  his  webs  into  a  thread.  Take  a  fool's  advice,  neighbour 
Goldthred.  Tempt  not  the  sea,  for  she  is  a  devourer.  Let 
cards  and  cockatrices  do  their  worst,  thy  father's  bales  may 


KENILWORTH.  21 

bide  a  banging  for  a  year  or  two,  ere  thou  comest  to  the  spital ; 
but  the  sea  hath  a  bottomless  appetite :  she  would  swallow  the 
wealth  of  Lombard  Street  in  a  morning  as  easily  as  I  would 
a  poached  egg  and  a  cup  of  clary;  and  for  my  kinsman's  El- 
dorado, never  trust  me  if  I  do  not  believe  he  has  found  it  in 
the  pouches  of  some  such  gulls  as  thyself.  But  take  no  snufE 
in  the  nose  about  it ;  fall  to  and  welcome,  for  here  comes  the 
supper,  and  I  heartily  bestow  it  on  all  that  will  take  share,  in 
honour  of  my  hopeful  nephew's  return,  always  trusting  that 
he  has  come  home  another  man.  In  faith,  kinsman,  thou  art 
as  like  my  poor  sister  as  ever  was  son  to  mother." 

"  Not  quite  so  like  old  Benedict  Lambourne  her  husband, 
though, "  said  the  mercer,  nodding  and  winking.  "  Dost  thou 
remember,  Mike,  what  thou  saidst  when  the  schoolmaster's 
ferule  was  over  thee  for  striking  up  thy  father's  crutches? 
*  It  is  a  wise  child, '  saidst  thou,  '  that  knows  its  own  father. ' 
Dr.  Bricham  laughed  till  he  cried  again,  and  his  crying  saved 
yours." 

"  Well,  he  made  it  up  to  me  many  a  day  after,"  said  Lam- 
bourne; "and  how  is  the  worthy  pedagogue?" 

"Dead,"  said  Giles  Gosling,  "this  many  a  day  since." 

"  That  he  is, "  said  the  clerk  of  the  parish ;  "  I  sat  by  his 
bed  the  whilst.  He  passed  away  in  a  blessed  frame,  '3Iorior — 
mortims  sum  vel  fui — morV — these  were  his  latest  words,  and 
lie  just  added,  'jMy  last  verb  is  conjugated.'  " 

"Well,  peace  be  with  him,"  said  Mike,  "he  owes  me  noth- 
ing." 

"Ko,  truly,"  replied  Goldthred;  "and  every  lash  which  he 
laid  on  thee,  he  always  was  wont  to  say,  he  spared  the  hang- 
man a  labour. " 

"  One  would  have  thought  he  left  him  little  to  do  then, " 
said  the  clerk ;  "  and  yet  Goodman  Thong  had  no  sinecure  of 
it  with  our  friend,  after  all. " 

"  Voto  a  Dios  !  "  exclaimed  Lambourne,  his  patience  appear- 
ing to  fad  him,  as  he  snatched  his  broad  slouched  hat  from 
the  table  and  placed  it  on  his  head,  so  that  the  shadow  gave 
the  sinister  expression  of  a  Spanish  bravo  to  eyes  and  features 
which  naturally  boded  nothmg  pleasant.     "  Harkee,  my  mas- 


22  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

ters,  all  is  fair  among  friends,  and  under  the  rose,  and  I  hare 
already  permitted  my  worthy  uncle  here,  and  all  of  you,  to 
use  your  pleasure  with  the  frolics  of  my  nonage.  But  I  carry 
sword  and  dagger,  my  good  friends,  and  can  use  them  lightly 
too  upon  occasion.  I  have  learned  to  be  dangerous  upon  points 
of  honour  ever  since  I  served  the  Spaniard,  and  I  would  not 
have  you  provoke  me  to  the  degree  of  falling  foul." 

"Why,  what  would  you  do?"  said  the  clerk. 

"Ay,  sir,  what  would  you  do?"  said  the  mercer,  bustling 
up  on  the  other  side  of  the  table. 

"  Slit  your  throat  and  spoil  your  Sunday's  quavering,  sir 
clerk, "  said  Lambourne,  fiercely ;  "  cudgel  you,  my  worshipful 
dealer  in  flimsy  sarsenets,  into  one  of  your  own  bales." 

"  Come — come, "  said  the  host,  interposing,  "  I  will  have  no 
swaggering  here.  Nephew,  it  will  become  you  best  to  show 
no  haste  to  take  offence ;  and  you,  gentlemen,  will  do  well  to 
remember  that,  if  you  are  m  an  inn,  still  you  are  the  inn- 
keeper's guests,  and  should  spare  the  honour  of  his  family. 
I  protest  your  silly  broils  make  me  as  oblivious  as  yourself; 
for  yonder  sits  my  silent  guest,  as  I  call  him,  who  hath  been 
my  two  days'  inmate,  and  hath  never  spoken  a  word,  save  to 
ask  for  his  food  and  his  reckoning;  gives  no  more  trouble 
than  a  very  peasant ;  pays  his  shot  like  a  prince  royal ;  looks 
but  at  the  sum  total  of  the  reckoning,  and  does  not  know  what 
day  he  shall  go  away.  Oh,  'tis  a  jewel  of  a  guest!  and  yet, 
hang-dog  that  I  am,  I  have  suffered  him  to  sit  by  himself  like 
a  castaway  in  yonder  obscure  nook,  without  so  much  as  asking 
him  to  take  bite  or  sup  along  with  us.  It  were  but  the  right 
guerdon  of  my  incivility  were  he  to  set  off  to  the  Hare  and 
Tabor  before  the  night  grows  older." 

With  his  white  napkin  gracefully  arranged  over  his  left 
arm,  his  velvet  cap  laid  aside  for  the  moment,  and  his  best 
silver  flagon  in  his  right  hand,  mine  host  walked  up  to  the 
solitary  guest  whom  he  mentioned,  and  thereby  turned  upon 
him  the  eyes  of  the  assembled  company. 

He  was  a  man  aged  betwixt  twenty-five  and  thirty,  rather 
above  the  middle  size,  dressed  with  plainness  and  decency, 
yet  bearing  an  air  of  ease  which  almost  amounted  to  dignity. 


KENILWORTH.  23 

and  which,  seemed  to  infer  that  his  habit  was  rather  beneath 
his  rank.  His  countenance  was  reserved  and  thoughtful,  with 
dark  hair  and  dark  eyes — the  last,  upon  any  momentary  ex- 
citement, sparkled  with  uncommon  lustre,  but  on  other  occa- 
sions had  the  same  meditative  and  tranquil  cast  which  was 
exhibited  by  his  features.  The  busy  curiosity  of  the  little 
village  had  been  employed  to  discover  his  name  and  quality, 
as  well  as  his  business  at  Cumnor ;  but  nothing  had  transpired 
on  either  subject  which  could  lead  to  its  gratification.  Giles 
Gosling,  head-borough  of  the  place,  and  a  steady  friend  to 
Queen  Elizabeth  and  the  Protestant  religion,  was  at  one  time 
inclined  to  suspect  his  guest  of  being  a  Jesuit,  or  seminary 
priest,  of  whom  Rome  and  Spain  sent  at  this  tim.e  so  many  to 
grace  the  gallows  in  England.  But  it  was  scarce  possible  to 
retain  such  a  prepossession  against  a  guest  who  gave  so  little 
trouble,  paid  his  reckoning  so  regularly,  and  who  proposed, 
as  it  seemed,  to  make  a  considerable  stay  at  the  bonny  Black 
Bear. 

"Papists,"  argued  Giles  Gosling,  "are  a  pinching,  close- 
fisted  race,  and  this  man  would  have  found  a  lodging  with  the 
wealthy  squire  at  Bessellsley,  or  with  the  old  knight  at  Woot- 
ton,  or  in  some  other  of  their  Roman  dens,  instead  of  living 
in  a  house  of  public  entertainment,  as  every  honest  man  and 
good  Christian  should.  Besides,  on  Friday,  he  stuck  by  the 
salt  beef  and  carrot,  though  there  were  as  good  spitchcocked 
eels  on  the  board  as  ever  were  ta'en  out  of  the  Isis." 

Honest  Giles,  therefore,  satisfied  himself  that  his  guest  was 
no  Eoman,  and  with  all  comely  courtesy  besought  the  stranger 
to  pledge  him  in  a  draught  of  the  cool  tankard,  and  honour 
with  his  attention  a  small  collation  which  he  was  giving  to  his 
nephew  in  honour  of  his  return,  and,  as  he  verily  hoped,  of 
his  reformation.  The  stranger  at  first  shook  his  head  as  if 
declining  the  courtesy ;  but  mine  host  proceeded  to  urge  him 
with  arguments  founded  on  the  credit  of  his  house,  and  the 
construction  which  the  good  people  of  Cumnor  might  put  upon 
such  an  unsocial  humour. 

"  By  my  faith,  sir, "  he  said,  "  it  touches  my  reputation 
that  men   should  be  merry  in  my  house,  and  we   have   ill 


24  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

tongues  amongst  us  at  Cumnor — as  where  be  there  not? — who 
put  rui  evil  mark  on  men  who  pull  their  hat  over  their  brows 
as  if  they  were  looking  back  to  the  days  that  are  gone,  instead 
of  enjoying  the  blythe  sunshiny  weather  which  God  has  sent 
us  in  the  sweet  looks  of  our  sovereign  mistress,  Queen  Eliza- 
beth, whom  Heaven  long  bless  and  preserve  V 

"Why,  mine  host,"  answered  the  stranger,  "there  is  no 
treason,  sure,  in  a  man's  enjoying  his  own  thoughts  under  the 
shadow  of  his  own  bonnet?  You  have  lived  in  the  world  twice 
as  long  as  I  have,  and  you  must  know  there  are  thoughts  that 
will  haunt  us  in  spite  of  ourselves,  and  to  which  it  is  in  vain 
to  say,  '  Begone,  and  let  me  be  merry. '  " 

"By  my  sooth,"  answered  Giles  Gosling,  "if  such  trouble- 
some thoughts  haunt  your  mind,  and  will  not  get  them  gone 
for  plain  English,  we  will  have  one  of  Father  Bacon's  pupils 
from  Oxford  to  conjure  them  away  with  logic  and  with  He- 
brew. Or,  what  say  you  to  laying  them  in  a  glorious  red  sea 
of  claret,  my  noble  guest?  Come,  sir,  excuse  my  freedom. 
I  am  an  old  host,  and  must  have  my  talk.  This  peevish 
humour  of  melancholy  sits  ill  upon  you :  it  suits  not  with  a 
sleek  boot,  a  hat  of  a  trim  block,  a  fresh  cloak,  and  a  full 
purse.  A.  pize  on  it !  send  it  off  to  those  who  have  their  legs 
swathed  with  a  hay-wisp,  their  heads  thatched  with  a  felt 
bonnet,  their  jerkin  as  thin  as  a  cobweb,  and  their  pouch 
without  ever  a  cross  to  keep  the  fiend  Melancholy  from  danc- 
ing in  it.  Cheer  up,  sir !  or,  by  this  good  liquor,  we  wiU  ban- 
ish thee  from  the  joys  of  blythesome  company  into  the  mists 
of  melancholy  and  the  land  of  little-ease.  Here  be  a  set 
of  good  fellows  willing  to  be  merry ;  do  not  scowl  on  them  like 
the  devil  looking  over  Lincoln." 

"You  say  well,  my  worthy  host,"  said  the  guest,  with  a 
melancholy  smile,  which,  melancholy  as  it  was,  gave  a  very 
pleasant  expression  to  his  countenance — "you  say  weU,  my 
jovial  friend;  and  they  that  are  moody  like  myself  should  not 
disturb  the  mirth  of  those  who  are  happy.  I  will  drink  a 
round  with  your  guests  with  all  my  heart,  rather  than  be 
termed  a  mar-feast.'^ 

So  saying,  he  arose  and  joined  the  company,  who,  encour- 


KENILWORTH.  25 

aged  by  the  precept  and  example  of  Michael  Lamhourne,  and 
consisting  chiefly  of  persons  much  disposed  to  profit  by  the 
opportunity  of  a  merry  meal  at  the  expense  of  their  landlord, 
had  already  made  some  inroads  upon  the  limits  of  temperance, 
as  was  evident  from  the  tone  in  which  Michael  inquired  after 
his  old  acquaintances  in  the  town,  and  the  bursts  of  laughter 
with  which  each  answer  was  received.  Giles  Gosling  himself 
was  somewhat  scandalised  at  the  obstreperous-  nature  of  their 
mirth,  especially  as  he  involuntarily  felt  some  respect  for  his 
imloiown  guest.  He  paused,  therefore,  at  some  distance  from 
the  table  occupied  by  these  noisy  revellers,  and  began  to  make 
a  sort  of  apology  for  their  license. 

"  You  would  thiuk, "  he  said,  "  to  hear  these  fellows  talk, 
that  there  was  not  one  of  them  who  had  not  been  bred  to  live 
by  *  Stand  and  deliver' ;  and  yet  to-morrow  you  will  find  i;hem 
a  set  of  as  painstaking  mechanics,  and  so  forth,  as  ever  cut  an 
mch  short  of  measure,  or  paid  a  lettei'  of  change  in.  light 
ero'UTis  over  a  counter.  The  mercer  there  wears  his  hat  awry, 
over  a  shagged  head  of  hair,  that  looks  like  a  curly  water-dog's 
back,  goes  unbraced,  wears  his  cloak  on  one  side,  and  affects  a 
rufiianly  vapouring  humour ;  when  in  his  shop  at  Abingdon, 
he  is,  frc-m  his  flat  cap  to  his  glistening  shoes,  as  precise  in 
his  apparel  as  if  he  was  named  for  mayor.  He  talks  of 
breaking  parks,  and  taking  the  highway,  in  such  fashion  that 
you  would  think  he  haunted  every  night  betwixt  Hounslow 
and  London,  when  in  fact  he  may  be  found  sound  asleep  on 
his  feather-bed,  with  a  candle  placed  beside  him  on  one  side, 
and  a  Bible  on  the  other,  to  fright  away  the  goblins." 

"And  your  nephew,  mine  host — ^this  same  Michael  Lam« 
bourne,  who  is  lord  of  the  feast — is  he  too  such  an  would-be 
ruftler  as  the  rest  of  them?" 

"Why,  there  you  push  me  hard,"  said  the  host;  "my 
nephew  is  my  nephew,  and  though  he  was  a  desperate  Dick  of 
yore,  yet  Mike  may  have  mended  like  other  folks,  you  wot. 
And  I  would  not  have  you  think  all  I  said  of  him  even  now 
was  strict  gospel :  I  knew  the  wag  all  the  while,  and  wished 
to  pluck  his  plumes  from  him.  And  now,  sir,  by  what  name 
shall  I  present  my  worshipful  guest  to  these  gallants?" 


26  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

"  Marry,  mine  host, "  replied  the  stranger,  "  you  may  call 
me  Tressilian," 

"Tressilian!"  answered  mine  host  of  the  Bear,  "a  worthy 
name,  and,  as  I  think,  of  Cornish  lineage ;  for  what  says  the 
south  proverb : 

By  Pol,  Tre,  and  Pen, 

You  may  know  the  Cornish  men. 

Shall  I  say  the  worth/  Mr.  Tressilian  of  Cornwall?" 

"  Say  no  more  than  I  have  given  you  warrant  for,  mine  host, 
and  so  shall  you  be  sure  you  speak  no  more  than  is  true.  A 
man  may  have  one  of  those  honourable  prefixes  to  his  name, 
yet  be  born  far  from  St.  Michael's  Mount." 

Mine  host  pushed  his  curiosity  no  farther,  but  presented 
Mr.  Tressilian  to  his  nephew's  company,  who,  after  exchange 
of  salutations,  and  drinking  to  the  health  of  their  new  com- 
panion, pursued  the  conversation  in  which  he  found  them  en- 
gaged, seasoning  it  with  many  an  intervening  pledge. 


CHAPTER  II. 


Talk  you  of  young  Master  Lancelot? 

Merchant  of  Venice. 

After  some  brief  interval.  Master  Goldthred,  at  the  earnest 
instigation  of  mine  host,  and  the  joyous  concurrence  of  his 
guests,  indulged  the  company  with  the  following  morsel  of 
melody : 

"  Of  all  the  birds  on  bush  or  tree, 
Commend  me  to  the  owl. 
Since  he  may  best  ensample  be 
To  those  the  cup  that  trowl. 
For  when  the  sun  hath  left  the  west, 
He  chooses  the  tree  that  he  loves  the  best, 
And  he  whoops  out  his  song,  and  he  laughs  at  his  jest » 
Then  though  hours  be  late,  and  weather  foul, 
We'll  drink  to  the  health  of  the  bonny,  bonny  owL 

The  lark  is  but  a  bumpkin  fowl, 

He  sleeps  in  his  nest  till  morn  ; 
But  my  blessing  upon  the  jolly  owl, 

That  all  night  blows  his  horn. 


KENILWORTH.  27 

Then  up  with  your  cup  till  you  stagger  in  speech, 
And  match  me  this  catch  till  you  swagger  and  screech, 
And  drink  till  you  wink,  my  merry  men  each ; 
For  though  hours  be  late,  and  weather  be  foul, 
We'll  drink  to  the  health  of  the  bonny,  bonny  owl." 

"  There  is  savour  in  this,  my  hearts, "  said  Michael,  -when 
the  mercer  had  finished  his  song,  "  and  some  goodness  seems 
left  among  you  yet ;  but  what  a  bead-roll  you  have  read  me  of 
old  comrades,  and  to  every  man's  name  tacked  some  ill-omened 
motto !  And  so  Swashing  Will  of  Wallingf ord  hath  bid  us 
good-night?" 

"He  died  the  death  of  a  fat  buck,"  said  one  of  the  party, 
*' being  shot  with  a  cross-bow  bolt,  by  old  Thatcham,  the 
Duke's  stout  park-keeper  at  Donnington  Castle," 

"Ay,  ay,  he  always  loved  venison  well,"  replied  Michael, 
"and  a  cup  of  claret  to  boot;  and  so  here's  one  to  his  memory. 
Do  me  right,  my  masters." 

When  the  memory  of  this  departed  worthy  had  been  duly 
honoured,  Lambourne  proceeded  to  inquire  after  Prance  of 
Padworth. 

"Pranced  off — made  immortal  ten  years  since,"  said  the 
mercer ;  "  marry,  sir,  Oxford  Castle  and  Goodman  Thong,  and 
a  tenpenny- worth  of  cord,  best  know  how. " 

"What,  so  they  hung  poor  Prance  high  and  dry?  so  much 
for  loving  to  walk  by  moonlight!  A  cup  to  his  memory,  my 
masters ;  all  merry  fellows  like  moonlight.  AVhat  has  become 
of  Hal  with  the  Plume?  he  who  lived  near  Yattendon,  and 
wore  the  long  feather — I  forget  his  name." 

"What,  Hal  Hempseed?"  replied  the  mercer,  "why,  you 
may  remember  he  was  a  sort  of  a  gentleman,  and  would  meddle 
in  state  matters,  and  so  he  got  mto  the  mire  about  the  Duke 
of  Norfolk's  affair  these  two  or  three  years  since,  fled  the 
country  with  a  pursuivant's  warrant  at  his  heels,  and  has 
never  since  been  heard  of." 

"Nay,  after  these  baulks,"  said  Michael  Lambourne,  "I 
need  hardly  inquire  after  Tony  Foster ;  for  when  ropes,  and 
cross-bow  shafts,  and  pursuivant's  warrants,  and  such -like 
gear  were  so  rife,  Tony  could  hardly  'scape  them." 

"Which  Tony  Foster  mean  you?"  said  the  innkeeper. 


28  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

"  Why,  he  they  called  Tony  Fire-the-Fagot,  because  he 
brought  a  light  to  kindle  the  pile  round  Latimer  and  Kidley, 
when  the  wind  blew  out  Jack  Thong's  torch,  and  no  man  else 
would  give  him  light  for  love  or  money." 

"Tony  Foster  lives  and  tlmves,"  said  the  host.  "But, 
kinsman,  I  would  not  have  you  call  him  Tony  Fire-the-Fagot, 
if  you  would  not  brook  the  stab." 

"How!  is  he  gro^vn  ashamed  on't?"  said  Lambourne; 
"  why,  he  was  wont  to  boast  of  it,  and  say  he  liked  as  well  to 
see  a  roasted  heretic  as  a  roasted  ox. " 

"Ay,  but,  kinsman,  that  was  in  Mary's  time,"  replied  the 
landlord,  "when  Tony's  father  was  reeve  here  to  the  abbot  of 
Abingdon.  But  since  that,  Tony  married  a  pure  precisian, 
and  is  as  good  a  Protestant,  I  warrant  you,  as  the  best." 

"  And  looks  grave,  and  holds  his  head  high,  and  scorns  his 
old  companions, "  said  the  mercer. 

"  Then  he  hath  prospered,  I  warrant  him,"  said  Lambourne; 
"  for  ever  when  a  man  hath  got  nobles  of  his  own  he  keeps 
out  of  the  way  of  those  whose  exchequers  lie  in  other  men's 
purchase." 

"Prospered,  quotha!"  said  the  mercer ;  "why,  you  remem- 
ber Cumnor  Place,  the  old  mansion-house  beside  the  church- 
yard?" 

"  By  the  same  token,  I  robbed  the  orchard  three  times— 
what  of  that?  It  was  the  old  abbot's  residence  when  there 
was  plague  or  sickness  at  Abingdon." 

"Ay,"  said  the  host,  "but  that  has  been  long  over;  and 
Anthony  Foster  hath  a  right  in  it,  and  lives  there  by  some 
grant  from  a  great  courtier,  who  had  the  church  lands  from 
the  crown ;  and  there  he  dwells,  and  has  as  little  to  do  with 
any  poor  wight  in  Cumnor  as  if  he  were  himseK  a  belted 
knight." 

"  Nay, "  said  the  mercer,  "  it  is  not  altogether  pride  in  Tony 
neither :  there  is  a  fair  lady  in  the  case,  and  Tony  will  scarce 
let  the  light  of  day  look  on  her." 

"How!"  said  Tressilian,  who  now  for  the  first  time  inter- 
fered in  their  conversation,  "  did  ye  not  say  this  Foster  was 
married,  and  to  a  precisian?" 


KENILWORTH.  29 

"  Married  lie  was,  and  to  as  bitter  a  i^recisian  as  ever  eat 
flesh,  in  Lent;  and  a  cat-and-dog  life  she  led  with  Tony,  as 
men  said.  But  she  is  dead,  rest  be  with  her,  and  Tony  hath 
but  a  slip  of  a  daughter ;  so  it  is  thought  he  means  to  wed 
this  stranger,  that  men  keep  such  a  coil  about." 

"And  why  so?  I  mean,  why  do  they  keep  a  coil  about 
her?"  said  Tressilian. 

*'  Why,  I  wot  not, "  answered  the  host,  "  except  that  men 
say  she  is  as  beautiful  as  an  angel,  and  no  one  knows  whence 
she  comes,  and  every  one  wishes  to  know  why  she  is  kept  so 
closely  mewed  up.  For  my  part,  I  never  saw  her ;  you  have, 
I  thmk.  Master  Goldthred?" 

"  That  I  have,  old  boy, "  said  the  mercer.  "  Look  you,  I 
was  riding  hither  from  Abingdon — I  passed  under  the  east 
oriel  window  of  the  old  mansion,  where  all  the  old  saints  and 
histories  and  such-like  are  painted.  It  was  not  the  common 
path  I  took,  but  one  through  the  park ;  for  the  postern  door 
was  upon  the  latch,  and  I  thought  I  might  take  the  privilege 
of  an  old  comrade  to  ride  across  through  the  trees,  both  for 
shading,  as  the  day  was  somewhat  hot,  and  for  avoiding  of 
dust,  because  I  had  on  my  peach-coloured  doublet,  pinked  out 
with  cloth  of  gold." 

"Which  garment,"  said  Michael  Lambourne,  "thou  wouldst 
willingly  make  twinkle  in  the  eyes  of  a  fair  dame.  Ah !  vil- 
lain, thou  wilt  never  leave  thy  old  tricks." 

"  Not  so — not  so, "  said  the  mercer,  with  a  smirking  laughs 
"  not  altogether  so ;  but  curiosity,  thou  knowest,  and  a  strain 
of  compassion  withal,  for  the  poor  young  lady  sees  nothiag 
from  morn  to  even  but  Tony  Foster,  with  his  scowling  black 
brows,  his  bull's  head,  and  his  bandy  legs," 

"  And  thou  wouldst  willingly  show  her  a  dapper  body,  in  a 
silken  jerkin;  a  limb  like  a  short-legged  hen's,  in  a  cordovan 
boot ;  and  a  romid,  simpering,  what-d'ye-lack  sort  of  a  coun- 
tenance, set  off  with  a  velvet  bonnet,  a  Turkey  feather,  and  a 
gilded  brooch?  Ah!  jolly  mercer,  they  who  have  good  wares 
are  fond  to  show  them !  Come,  gentles,  let  not  the  cup  stand — 
here's  to  long  spurs,  short  boots,  full  bonnets,  and  empty 
skuUsI" 


30  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

"Nay,  now,  you  are  jealous  of  me,  Mike,"  said  Goldthred; 
"  and  yet  my  luck  was  l3ut  what  might  have  happened  to  thee, 
or  any  man." 

"  Marry,  confound  thine  impudence, "  retorted  Lambourne ; 
"thou  wouldst  not  compare  thy  pudding  face  and  sarsenet 
manners  to  a  gentleman  and  a  soldier?" 

" Nay,  my  good  sir,"  said  Tressilian,  " let  me  beseech  you 
will  not  interrupt  the  gallant  citizen ;  methinks  he  tells  his 
tale  so  well,  I  could  hearken  to  him  till  midnight." 

"It's  more  of  your  favour  than  of  my  desert,"  answered 
Master  Goldthred;  "but  since  I  give  you  pleasure,  worthy 
Master  Tressilian,  I  shall  proceed,  maugre  all  the  gibes  and 
quips  of  this  valiant  soldier,  who,  peradventure,  hath  had 
more  cuffs  than  crowns  in  the  Low  Countries.  And  so,  sir, 
as  I  passed  under  the  great  painted  window,  leaving  my  rein 
loose  on  my  ambling  palfrey's  neck,  partly  for  mine  ease,  and 
partly  that  I  might  have  the  more  leisure  to  peer  about,  I 
hears  me  the  lattice  open ;  and  never  credit  me,  sir,  if  there 
did  not  stand  there  the  person  of  as  fair  a  woman  as  ever 
crossed  mine  eyes;  and  I  think  I  have  looked  on  as  many 
pretty  wenches,  and  with  as  much  judgment,  as  other  folks." 

"May  I  ask  her  appearance,  sir?"  said  Tressilian. 

"  Oh,  sir, "  replied  Master  Goldthred,  "  I  promise  you,  she 
was  in  gentlewoman's  attire — a  very  quaint  and  pleasing  dress, 
that  might  have  served  the  Queen  herself ;  for  she  had  a  fore- 
part with  body  and  sleeves,  of  ginger-colourea  satin,  which,  in 
my  judgment,  must  have  cost  by  the  yard  some  thirty  shUl- 
ings,  lined  with  murrey  taffeta,  and  laid  down  and  guarded 
with  two  broad  laces  of  gold  and  silver.  And  her  hat,  sir, 
was  truly  the  best-fashioned  thing  that  I  have  seen  in  these 
parts,  being  of  tawny  taffeta,  embroidered  with  scorpions 
of  Venice  gold,  and  having  a  border  garnished  with  gold 
fringe — I  promise  you,  sir,  an  absolute  and  all-surpassing  de- 
vice. Touching  her  skirts,  they  were  in  the  old  pass-devant 
fashion." 

"  I  did  not  ask  you  of  her  attire,  sir, "  said  Tressilian,  who 
had  shown  some  impatience  during  this  conversation,  "  but  of 
her  complexion,  the  colour  of  her  hair,  her  features." 


KENILWORTH.  31 

•  "Touching  her  complexion,"  answered  the  mercer,  "I  am 
not  so  special  certaia ;  but  I  marked  that  her  fan  had  an  ivory- 
handle,  curiously  inlaid;  and  then,  again,  as  to  the  colour  of 
her  hair,  why,  I  can  warrant,  be  its  hue  what  it  might,  that 
she  wore  above  it  a  net  of  green  silk,  parcel  twisted  with  gold." 

"A  most  mercer-like  memory,"  said  Lambourne:  "the  gen- 
tleman asks  him  of  the  lady's  beauty,  and  he  talks  of  her  fine 
clothes!" 

"I  tell  thee,"  said  the  mercer,  somewhat  disconcerted,  "I 
had  little  time  to  look  at  her ;  for  just  as  I  was  about  to  give 
her  the  good  time  of  day,  and  for  that  purpose  had  puckered 
my  features  with  a  smile " 

"Like  those  of  a  jackanape  simperiug  at  a  chestnut,"  said 
Michael  Lambourne. 

— "  Up  started  of  a  sudden, "  continued  Goldthred,  without 
heeding  the  interruption,  "  Tony  Foster  himseK,  with  a  cudgel 
in  his  hand " 

"And  broke  thy  head  across,  1  hope,  for  thine  imperti- 
nence, "  said  his  entertainer. 

"  That  were  more  easily  said  than  done, "  answered  Gold- 
thred, indignantly ;  "  no,  no — there  was  no  breaking  of  heads ; 
it's  true,  he  advanced  his  cudgel,  and  spoke  of  laying  on,  and 
asked  why  I  did  not  keep  the  public  road,  and  such-like ;  and 
I  would  have  Knocked  him  over  the  pate  handsomely  for  his 
pains,  only  for  the  lady's  presence,  who  might  have  swooned, 
for  what  I  know." 

"Now,  out  upon  thee  for  a  faint-spirited  slave!"  said  Lam- 
bourne ;  "  what  adventurous  knight  ever  thought  of  the  lady's 
terror  when  he  went  to  thwack  giant,  dragon,  or  magician  in 
her  presence,  and  for  her  deliverance?  But  why  talk  to  thee 
of  dragons,  who  would  be  driven  back  by  a  dragon-fly?  There 
thou  hast  missed  the  rarest  opportunity!" 

"  Take  it  thyself  then,  bully  Mike, "  answered  Goldthred. 
"Yonder  is  the  enchanted  manor,  and  the  dragon,  and  the 
lady,  all  at  thy  service,  if  thou  darest  venture  on  them." 

"  Why,  so  I  would  for  a  quartern  of  sack,"  said  the  soldier. 
Or,  stay — I  am  foully  out  of  linen — wilt  thou  bet  a  piece  of 
HoUands  against  these  five  angels  that  I  go  not  up  to  the  hall 


32  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

to-moiTow  and  force  Tony  Foster  to  introduce  me  to  his  fair 
guest?" 

"I  accept  your  wager,"  said  the  mercer;  "and  I  think, 
though  thou  hadst  even  the  impudence  of  the  devil,  I  shall 
gain  on  thee  this  bout.  Our  landlord  here  shall  hold  stakes, 
and  I  will  stake  down  gold  till  I  send  the  linen." 

"  I  will  hold  stakes  on  no  such  matter, "  said  Gosling.  "  Good 
now,  my  kinsman,  drink  your  wine  in  quiet,  and  let  such  ven- 
tiires  alone.  I  promise  you.  Master  Foster  hath  interest 
enough  to  lay  you  up  in  lavender  in  the  castle  at  Oxford,  or 
to  get  your  legs  made  acquainted  with  the  town-stocks." 

"  That  would  be  but  renewing  an  old  intimacy ;  for  Mike's 
shins  and  the  town's  wooden  pinfold  have  been  well  l<Jiown  to 
each  other  ere  now,"  said  the  mercer;  "  but  he  shall  not  budge 
from  his  wager,  unless  he  means  to  pay  forfeit." 

"Forfeit!"  said  Lambourne;  "I  scorn  it.  I  value  Tony 
Foster's  wrath  no  more  than  a  shelled  pea-cod;  and  I  will 
visit  his  Lindabrides,  by  St.  George,  be  he  willing  or  no!" 

"I  would  gladly  j)ay  your  halves  of  the  risk,  sir,"  said 
TressUian,  "  to  be  permitted  to  accompany  you  on  the  adven- 
ture." 

"  In  what  would  that  advantage  you,  sir?"  answered  Lam- 
borne. 

"  In  nothing,  sir, "  said  Tressilian,  "  unless  to  mark  the  skill 
and  valour  with  which  you  conduct  yourself.  I  am  a  traveller, 
who  seeks  for  strange  rencounters  and  uncommon  passages,  as 
the  knights  of  yore  did  after  adventures  and  feat  of  arms." 

"  Nay,  if  it  pleasures  you  to  see  a  trout  tickled, "  answered 
Lambourne,  "  I  care  not  how  many  witness  my  skill.  And  so 
here  I  drink  success  to  my  enterprise;  and  he  that  will  not 
pledge  me  on  his  knees  is  a  rascal,  and  I  will  cut  his  legs  off 
by  the  garters!" 

The  draught  which  Michael  Lambourne  took  upon  this  occa- 
sion had  been  preceded  by  so  many  others  that  reason  tottered 
on  her  throne.  He  swore  one  or  two  incoherent  oaths  at  the 
mercer,  who  refused,  reasonably  enough,  to  pledge  him  to  a 
sentiment  which  inferred  the  loss  of  his  own  wager. 

"Wilt  thou  chop  logic  with  me,"  said  Lambourne,  "thou 


KENILWORTH.  33 

knave,  witli  no  more  brains  than  are  in  a  skein  of  ravelled 
silk?  By  Heaven,  I  will  cut  thee  into  fifty  yards  of  galloori 
lace!" 

But,  as  he  attempted  to  draw  his  sword  for  this  doughty 
purpose,  Michael  Lambourne  was  seized  upon  by  the  tapster 
and  the  chamberlain,  and  conveyed  to  his  own  apartment, 
there  to  sleep  himself  sober  at  his  leisure. 

The  party  then  broke  up,  and  the  guests  took  their  leave ; 
much  more  to  the  contentment  of  mine  host  than  of  some  of 
the  company,  who  were  unwilliag  to  quit  good  liquor,  when 
it  was  to  be  had  for  free  cost,  so  long  as  they  were  able  to  sit 
by  it.  They  were,  however,  compelled  to  remove ;  and  go  at 
length  they  did,  leaving  Gosling  and  Tressilian  in  the  empty 
apartment. 

*'  By  my  faith, "  said  the  former,  "  I  wonder  where  our  great 
folks  find  pleasure,  when  they  spend  their  means  in  entertain- 
ments, and  in  playing  mine  host  without  sending  in  a  reckon- 
ing. It  is  what  I  but  rarely  practise;  and  whenever  I  do,  by 
St.  Julian,  it  grieves  me  beyond  measure.  Each  of  these 
empty  stoups  now,  which  my  nephiew  and  his  drunken  com- 
rades have  swilled  off,  should  have  been  a  matter  of  profit  to 
one  in  my  line,  and  I  must  set  them  down  a  dead  loss.  I 
cannot,  for  my  heart,  conceive  the  pleasure  of  noise,  and  non- 
sense, and  drunken  freaks,  and  drunken  quarrels,  and  smut, 
and  blasphemy,  and  so  forth,  when  a  man  loses  money  instead 
of  gaining  by  it.  And  yet  many  a  fair  estate  is  lost  in  up- 
holding such  an  useless  course,  and  that  greatly  contributes  to 
the  decay  of  publicans ;  for  who  the  devil  do  you  think  would 
pay  for  drink  at  the  Black  Bear,  when  he  can  have  it  for 
nothing  at  my  lord's  or  the  squire's?" 

Tressilian  perceived  that  the  wine  had  made  some  impres- 
sion even  on  the  seasoned  brain  of  mine  host,  wliich  was 
chiefly  to  be  inferred  from  his  declaimmg  against  drunken- 
ness. As  he  himself  had  carefully  avoided  the  bowl,  he  would 
have  availed  himself  of  the  frankness  of  the  moment  to  extract 
from  Gosling  some  further  information  upon  the  subject  of 
Anthony  Foster,  and  the  lady  whom  the  mercer  had  seen  in 
his  mansion-house;  but  his  inquiries  only  set  the  host  upon  a 


34  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

new  theme  of  declamation  against  the  wiles  of  the  fair  sex,  in 
which  he  brought,  at  full  length,  the  whole  wisdom  of  Solomon 
to  reinforce  his  own.  Finally,  he  turned  his  admonitions, 
mixed  with  much  objurgation,  upon  his  tapsters  and  drawers, 
who  were  employed  in  removing  the  relics  of  the  entertain- 
ment and  restoring  order  to  the  apartment;  and  at  length, 
joining  example  to  precept,  though  with  no  good  success,  he 
demolished  a  salver  with  half  a  score  of  glasses,  in  attempting 
to  show  how  such  service  was  done  at  the  Three  Cranes  in  the 
Vintry,  then  the  most  topping  tavern  in  London.  This  last 
accident  so  far  recalled  him  to  his  better  seK  that  he  retired 
to  his  bed,  slept  sound,  and  awoke  a  new  man  in  the  morning. 


CHAPTER   III. 


Nay,  I'll  hold  touch,  the  game  shall  be  play'd  out; 
'  It  ne'er  shall  stop  for  me,  this  merry  wager. 

That  which  I  say  when  gamesome,  I'll  avouch 
In  my  most  sober  mood,  ne'er  trust  me  else. 

The  Hazard  Table. 

"And  how  doth  your  kinsman,  good  mine  host?"  said 
TressUian,  when  Giles  Gosling  first  appeared  in  the  public 
Toom,  on  the  morning  following  the  revel  which  we  described 
in  the  last  chapter.  "Is  he  well,  and  will  he  abide  by  his 
wager?" 

*'  For  well,  sir,  he  started  two  hours  since,  and  has  visited 
I  know  not  what  purlieus  of  his  old  companions ;  hath  but  now 
returned,  and  is  at  this  instant  breakfasting  on  new-laid  eggs 
and  muscadine ;  and  for  his  wager,  I  caution  you  as  a  friend 
to  have  little  to  do  with  that,  or  indeed  with  aught  that  Mike 
proposes.  Wherefore,  I  counsel  you  to  a  warm  breakfast  upon 
a  culiss,  which  shall  restore  the  tone  of  the  stomach ;  and  let 
my  nephew  and  Master  Goldthred  swagger  about  their  wager 
as  they  list." 

"  It  seems  to  me,  mine  host, "  said  Tressilian,  "  that  you 
know  not  well  what  to  say  about  this  kinsman  of  yours  j  and 


KENILWORTH.  35 

that  you  can  neither  blame  him  nor  commend  him  without 
some  tinge  of  conscience." 

*'  Tou  have  spoken  truly,  Master  Tressilian,"  replied  Giles 
Gosling.  "There  is  natural  affection  whimpering  into  one 
ear,  *  Giles — Giles,  why  wilt  thou  take  away  the  good  name  of 
thy  own  nephew?  Wilt  thou  defame  thy  sister's  son,  Giles 
Gosling? — wilt  thou  defoul  thine  own  nest,  dishonour  thine 
own  blood?'  And  then,  again,  comes  justice,  and  says,  'Here 
is  a  worthy  guest  as  ever  came  to  the  bonny  Black  Bear ;  one 
who  never  challenged  a  reckoning — as  I  say  to  your  face  you 
never  did.  Master  Tressilian — not  that  you  have  had  cause — 
one  who  knows  not  why  he  came,  so  far  as  I  can  see,  or  when 
he  is  going  away ;  and  wilt  thou,  being  a  publican,  having  paid 
scot  and  lot  these  thirty  years  in  the  town  of  Cumnor,  and 
being  at  this  instant  head-borough — wilt  thou  suffer  this  guest 
of  guests,  this  man  of  men,  this  six-hooped  pot,  as  I  may  say, 
of  a  traveller,  to  fall  into  the  meshes  of  thy  nephew,  who  is 
known  for  a  swasher  and  a  desperate  Dick,  a  carder  and  a 
dicer,  a  professor  of  the  seven  damnable  sciences,  if  ever  man 
took  degrees  in  them?'  No,  by  Heaven!  I  might  wink,  and 
let  him  catch  such  a  small  butterfly  as  Goldthred ;  but  thou, 
my  guest,  shalt  be  forewarned,  forearmed,  so  thou  wilt  but 
listen  to  thy  trusty  host." 

"  Why,  mme  host,  thy  counsel  shall  not  be  cast  away, "  re- 
plied Tressilian ;  "  however,  I  must  uphold  my  share  in  this 
wager,  having  once  passed  my  word  to  that  effect.  But  lend 
me,  I  pray,  some  of  thy  counsel.  This  Foster,  who  or  what 
is  he,  and  why  makes  he  such  mystery  of  his  female  inmate?'* 

"  Troth, "  replied  Gosling,  "  I  can  add  but  little  to  what  you 
heard  last  night.  He  was  one  of  Queen  Mary's  Papists,  and 
now  he  is  one  of  Queen  Elizabeth's  Protestants;  he  was  an 
on-hanger  of  the  abbot  of  Abingdon,  and  now  he  lives  as 
master  of  the  manor-house.  Above  all,  he  was  poor  and  is 
rich.  Polk  talk  of  private  apartments  in  his  old  waste  man- 
sion-house bedizened  fine  enough  to  serve  the  Queen,  God 
bless  her!  Some  men  think  he  found  a  treasure  in  the  or- 
chard, some  that  he  sold  himself  to  the  devil  for  treasure,  and 
some  say  that  he  cheated  the  abbot  out  of  the  church  plate 


36  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

which  was  hidden  in  the  old  manor-house  at  the  Reformation. 
Rich,  however,  he  is,  and  God  and  his  conscience,  with  the 
devil  perhaps,  besides,  only  knOw  how  he  came  by  it.  He 
has  sulky  ways  too,  breaking  off  intercourse  with  all  that  are 
of  the  place,  as  if  he  had  either  some  strange  secret  to  keep 
or  held  himself  to  be  made  of  another  clay  than  we  are.  I 
think  it  likely  my  kinsman  and  he  will  quarrel,  if  Mike  thrust 
his  acquaintance  on  him ;  and  I  am  sorry  that  you,  my  worthy 
Master  Tressilian,  will  still  think  of  going  in  my  nephew's 
company. " 

Tressilian  again  answered  him,  that  he  would  proceed  with 
great  caution,  and  that  he  should  have  no  fears  on  his  account ; 
in  short,  he  bestowed  on  him  all  the  customary  assurances 
with  which  those  who  are  determined  on  a  rash  action  are 
wont  to  parry  the  advice  of  their  friends. 

Meantime,  the  traveller  accepted  the  landlord's  invitation, 
and  had  just  finished  the  excellent  breakfast  which  was  served 
to  him  and  Gosling  by  pretty  Cicely,  the  beauty  of  the  bar, 
when  the  hero  of  the  preceding  night,  Michael  Lamboume, 
entered  the  apartment.  His  toilet  had  apparently  cost  him 
some  labour,  for  his  clothes,  which  differed  from  those  he  wore 
on  his  journey,  were  of  the  newest  fashion,  and  put  on  with 
great  attention  to  the  display  of  his  person. 

"  By  my  faith,  uncle, "  said  the  gallant,  "  you  made  a  wet 
night  of  it,  and  I  feel  it  followed  by  a  dry  morning.  I  will 
pledge  you  willingly  in  a  cup  of  bastard.  How,  my  pretty 
coz.  Cicely !  why,  I  left  you  but  a  child  in  the  cradle,  and 
there  thou  stand' st  in  thy  velvet  waistcoat,  as  tight  a  girl  as 
England's  sun  shines  on.  &iow  thy  fi-iends  and  kindred. 
Cicely,  and  come  hither,  child,  that  I  may  kiss  thee,  and  give 
thee  my  blessing." 

"  Concern  not  yourself  about  Cicely,  kinsman, "  said  Giles 
Gosling,  "but  e'en  let  her  go  her  way,  a'  God's  name;  for 
although  your  mother  were  her  father's  sister,  yet  that  shall 
not  make  you  and  her  cater-cousins." 

"Why,  uncle,"  replied  Lambourne,  "think'st  thou  I  am  an 
infidel,  and  would  harm  those  of  mine  own  house?" 

"  It  is  for  no  harm  that  I  speak,  Mike,"  answered  his  uncle^ 


KENILWORTH.  37 

**  but  a  simple  humour  of  precaution  wldch  I  have.  True,  thou 
art  as  well  gilded  as  a  snake  when  he  casts  his  old  slough  in 
the  spring-time;  but  for  all  that^  thou  creepest  not  into  my 
Eden.  I  will  look  after  mine  Eve,  Mike,  and  so  content  thee. 
But  how  brave  thou  be'st,  lad!  To  look  on  thee  now,  and 
compare  thee  with  Master  Tressilian  here,  in  his  sad-coloured 
riding-suit,  who  would  not  say  that  thou  wert  the  real  gentle- 
man and  he  the  tapster's  boy?" 

"Troth,  uncle,"  replied  Lambourne,  "no  one  would  say  so 
but  one  of  your  country- breeding,  that  knows  no  better.  I 
will  say,  and  I  care  not  who  hears  me,  there  is  something 
about  the  real  gentry  that  few  men  come  up  to  that  are  nQt 
born  and  bred  to  the  mystery.  I  wot  not  where  the  trick 
lies ;  but  although  I  can  enter  an  ordinary  with  as  much 
audacity,  rebuke  the  waiters  and  drawers  as  loudly,  drink  as 
deep  a  health,  swear  as  round  an  oath,  and  fluig  my  gold  as 
freely  about  as  any  of  the  jingling  spurs  and  white  feathers 
that  are  around  me ;  yet,  hang  me  if  I  can  ever  catch  the  true 
grace  of  it,  though  I  have  practised  an  himdi*ed  times.  The 
man  of  the  house  sets  me  lowest  at  the  board,  and  carves  to 
me  the  last ;  and  the  drawer  says,  '  Coming,  friend, '  without 
any  more  reverence  or  regardful  addition.  But,  hang  it,  let 
it  pass ;  care  killed  a  cat.  I  have  gentry  enough  to  pass  the 
trick  on  Tony  Fire-the-Fagot,  and  that  will  do  for  the  matter 
in  hand." 

"  You  hold  your  piu'pose,  then,  of  visiting  your  old  acquaint- 
since?"  said  Tressilian  to  the  adventurer. 

"Ay,  sir,"  replied  Lamboui'ne:  "when  stakes  are  made, 
the  game  must  be  played;  that  is  gamester's  law  aU  over  the 
■world.  You,  sir,  unless  my  memory  fails  me,  for  I  did  steep 
it  somewhat  too  deeply  in  the  sack-butt,  took  some  share  in 
my  hazard?" 

"I  propose  to  accompany  you  m  your  adventure,"  said 
Tressilian,  "  if  you  will  do  me  so  much  grace  as  to  permit  me ; 
and  I  have  staked  my  share  of  the  forfeit  in  the  hands  of  our 
worthy  host." 

"  That  he  hath, "  answered  Giles  Gosling,  "  in  as  fair 
Harry  nobles  as  ever  were  melted  into  sack  by  a  good  fellow. 


38  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

So,  luck  to  your  enterprise,  since  you  will  needs  venture  on 
Tony  Foster ;  but,  by  my  credit,  you  had  better  take  another 
draught  before  you  depart,  for  your  welcome  at  the  hall 
yonder  will  be  somewhat  of  the  driest.  And  if  you  do  get 
into  peril,  beware  of  taking  to  cold  steel ;  but  send  for  me, 
Giles  Gosling,  the  head-borough,  and  I  may  be  able  to  make 
something  out  of  Tony  yet,  for  as  proud  as  he  is." 

The  nephew  dutifully  obeyed  his  uncle's  hint,  by  taking  a 
second  powerful  pull  at  the  tankard,  observing,  that  his  wit 
never  served  him  so  well  as  when  he  had  washed  his  temples 
with  a  deep  morning's  draught;  and  they  set  forth  together 
for  the  habitation  of  Anthony  Foster. 

The  village  of  Cumnor  is  pleasantly  built  on  a  hill,  and  in  a 
wooded  park  closely  adjacent  was  situated  the  ancient  mansion 
occupied  at  this  time  by  Anthony  Foster,  of  which  the  ruins 
may  be  still  extant.  The  park  was  then  full  of  large  trees, 
and  in  particular  of  ancient  and  mighty  oaks,  which  stretched 
their  giant  arms  over  the  high  wall  surrounding  the  demesne, 
thus  giving  it  a  melancholy,  secluded,  and  monastic  appear- 
ance. The  entrance  to  the  park  lay  through  an  old-fashioned 
gateway  in  the  outer  wall,  the  door  of  which  was  formed  of 
two  huge  oaken  leaves,  thickly  studded  with  nails,  like  the 
gate  of  an  old  town. 

"We  shall  be  finely  holped  up  here,"  said  Michael  Lam- 
bourne,  looking  at  the  gateway  and  gate,  "if  this  fellow's 
suspicious  humour  should  refuse  us  admission  altogether,  as  it 
is  like  he  may,  in  case  this  linsey-wolsey  fellow  of  a  mercer's 
visit  to  his  premises  has  disquieted  him.  But  no, "  he  added, 
pushing  the  huge  gate,  which  gave  way,  "  the  door  stands  in- 
vitingly open ;  and  here  we  are  within  the  forbidden  ground, 
without  other  impediment  than  the  passive  resistance  of  a 
heavy  oaken  door,  moving  on  rusty  hinges. " 

They  stood  now  in  an  avenue  overshadowed  by  such  old 
trees  as  we  have  described,  and  which  had  been  bordered  at 
one  time  by  high  hedges  of  yew  and  holly.  But  these,  having 
been  untrimmed  for  many  years,  had  rim  up  into  great  bushes, 
or  rather  dwarf-trees,  and  now  encroached,  with  their  dark 
and  melancholy  boughs,  upon  the  road  which  they  once  had 


KENILWORTH.  39 

screened.  The  avenue  itself  was  grown  up  with  grass,  and  in 
one  or  two  places  interrupted  by  piles  of  withered  brushwood, 
which  had  been  lopped  from  the  trees  cut  down  in  the  neigh- 
bouring park,  and  was  here  stacked  for  drymg.  Formal 
walks  and  avenues,  which,  at  different  points,  crossed  this 
principal  approach,  were  in  like  manner  choked  up  and  inter- 
rupted by  piles  of  brushwood  and  billets,  and  in  other  places 
by  underwood  and  brambles.  Besides  the  general  effect  of 
desolation  which  is  so  strongly  impressed,  whenever  we  behold 
the  contrivances  of  man  wasted  and  obliterated  by  neglect,  and 
witness  the  marks  of  social  life  effaced  gradually  by  the  influ- 
ence of  vegetation,  the  size  of  the  trees  and  the  outspreading 
extent  of  their  boughs  diffused  a  gloom  over  the  scene,  even 
when  the  sun  was  at  the  highest,  and  made  a  proportional  im- 
pression on  the  mind  of  those  who  visited  it.  This  was  felt 
even  by  Michael  Lambourne,  however  alien  his  habits  were  to 
receiving  any  impressions,  excepting  from  things  which  ad- 
dressed themselves  immediately  to  his  passions. 

"This  wood  is  as  dark  as  a  wolf's  mouth,"  said  he  to 
Tressilian,  as  they  walked  together  slowly  along  the  solitary 
and  broken  approach,  and  had  just  come  in  sight  of  the  mo- 
nastic front  of  the  old  mansion  with  its  shafted  windows,  brick 
walls  overgrown  with  ivy  and  creeping  shrubs,  and  twisted 
stalks  of  chimneys  of  heavy  stonework.  "And  yet,"  con- 
tinued Lambourne,  "it  is  fairly  done  on  the  part  of  Foster 
too ;  for  since  he  chooses  not  visitors,  it  is  right  to  keep  his 
place  in  a  fashion  that  will  invite  few  to  trespass  upon  his 
privacy.  But  had  he  been  the  Anthony  I  once  knew  him, 
these  sturdy  oaks  had  long  since  become  the  property  of  some 
honest  woodmonger,  and  the  manor-close  here  had  looked 
lighter  at  midnight  than  it  now  does  at  noon,  while  Foster 
played  fast  and  loose  with  the  price  in  some  cimning  corner  in 
the  purlieus  of  Whitefriars." 

"  Was  he  then  such  an  un thrift?"  asked  Tressilian. 

"He  was,"  answered  Lambourne,  "like  the  rest  of  us,  no 
saint,  and  no  saver.  But  what  I  liked  worst  of  Tony  was, 
that  he  loved  to  take  his  pleasure  by  himself,  and  grudged,  as 
men  say,  every  drop  of  water  that  went  past  his  own  mill. 


40  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

I  have  known  him  deal  with  such  measures  of  wine  when  he- 
was  alone  as  I  would  not  have  ventured  on  with  aid  of  the  best 
toper  in  Berkshire;  that,  and  some  sway  towards  superstition, 
which  he  had  by  temperament,  rendered  him  unworthy  the 
company  of  a  good  fellow.  And  now  he  has  earthed  himself 
here  in  a  den  just  befitting  such  a  sly  fox  as  himself." 

''May  I  ask  you,  Master  Lambourne,"  said  Tressilian, 
"  since  your  old  companion's  humour  jumps  so  little  with  your 
own,  wherefore  you  are  so  desirous  to  renew  acquaintance  with 
him?" 

"And  may  I  ask  you,  in  return.  Master  Tressilian, "  an- 
swered Lambourne,  "wherefore  you  have  shown  yourself  so 
desirous  to  accompany  me  on  this  party?" 

"I  told  you  my  motive,"  said  Tressilian,*  "when  I  took 
share  in  your  wager :  it  was  simple  curiosity. " 

"La  you  there  now!"  answered  Lambourne.  "See  how 
you  civil  and  discreet  gentlemen  think  to  use  us  who  live  by 
the  free  exercise  of  our  wits !  Had  I  answered  your  question 
by  saying  that  it  was  simple  curiosity  which  led  me  to  visit 
my  old  'comrade,  Anthony  Foster,  I  warrant  you  had  set  it- 
down  for  an  evasion  and  a  turn  of  my  trade.  But  any  answer,. 
I  suppose,  must  serve  my  turn. " 

"  And  wherefore  should  not  bare  curiosity, "  said  Tressilian,. 
"be  a  sufficient  reason  for  my  taking  this  walk  with  you?" 

"  Oh,  content  yourself,  sir, "  replied  Lambourne ;  "  you  can- 
not ^put  the  change  on  me  so  easy  as  you  think,  for  I  have 
lived  among  the  quick-stirring  spirits  of  the  age  too  long  to 
swallow  chaff  for  grain.  You  are  a  gentleman  of  birth  and 
breeding — your  bearing  makes  it  good;  of  civil  habits  and 
fair  reputation — your  manners  declare  it,  and  my  uncle 
avouches  it;  and  yet  you  associate  yourself  with  a  sort  of 
scant-of -grace,  as  men  call  me ;  and,  knowing  me  to  be  such, 
you  make  yourself  my  companion  in  a  visit  to  a  man  whom 
you  are  a  stranger  to — and  all  out  of  mere  curiosity,  forsooth! 
The  excuse,  if  curiously  balanced,  wovild  be  found  to  want 
some  scruples  of  just  weight  or  so." 

"If  your  suspicions  were  just,"  said  Tressilian,  "you  have- 
shown  no  confidence  in  me  to  invite  or  deserve  mine. " 


KENILWORTH.  41 

"  0]i,  if  that  be  all, "  said  Lambourne,  "  my  motives  lie  above 
water.  While  this  gold  of  mine  lasts, "  taking  out  his  purse, 
chucking  it  into  the  air,  and  catching  it  as  it  fell,  "  I  will 
make  it  buy  pleasure,  and  when  it  is  out,  I  must  have  more. 
Kow,  if  this  mysterious  Lady  of  the  Manor — this  fair  Linda- 
brides  of  Tony  Fire-the-Fagot — be  so  admirable  a  piece  as 
men  say,  why,  there  is  chance  that  she  may  aid  me  to  melt 
my  nobles  into  groats ;  and,  again,  if  Anthony  be  so  wealthy 
a  chuff  as  report  speaks  him,  he  may  prove  the  philosopher's 
stone  to  me,  and  convert  my  groats  into  fair  rose  nobles 
again." 

"  A  comfortable  proposal  truly, "  said  Tressilian ;  "  but  I  see 
not  what  chance  there  is  of  accomplishing  it." 

"Not  to-day,  or  perchance  to-morrow,"  answered  Lam- 
bouxne:  "I  ^.expect  not  to  catch  the  old  jack  till  I  have  dis- 
posed my  ground-baits  handsomely.  But  I  know  something 
more  of  his  affairs  this  morning  than  I  did  last  night,  and  I 
will  so  use  my  knowledge  that  he  shall  think  it  more  perfect 
than  it  is.  Nay,  without  expecting  either  pleasure  or  profit,  or 
both,  I  had  not  stepped  a  stride  within  this  manor,  I  can  tell 
you ;  for  I  promise  you  I  hold  our  visit  not  altogether  without 
risk.     But  here  we  are,  and  we  must  make  the  best  on't." 

While  he  thus  spoke,  they  had  entered  a  large  orchard 
which  surrounded  the  house  on  two  sides,  though  the  trees, 
•abandoned  by  the  care  of  man,  were  overgrown  and  mossy, 
«iid  seemed  to  bear  little  fruit.  Those  which  had  been  for- 
merly trained  as  espaliers  had  now  resumed  their  natural  mode 
of  growing,  and  exhibited  grotesque  forms,  partaking  of  the 
original  training  which  they  had  received.  The  greater  part 
of  the  ground,  which  had  once  been  parterres  and  flower- 
gai'dens,  was  suffered  in  like  manner  to  run  to  waste,  except- 
ing a  few  patches  which  had  been  dug  up,  and  planted  with 
ordinary  pot  herbs.  Some  statues,  which  had  ornamented  the 
:garden  in  its  days  of  splendour,  were  now  thrown  down  from 
their  pedestals  and  broken  in  pieces,  and  a  large  summer- 
house,  having  a  heavy  stone  front,  decorated  with  carving, 
representing  the  life  and  actions  of  Samson,  was  in  the  same 
^dilapidated  condition. 


42  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

They  had  just  traversed  this  garden  of  the  sluggard,  and 
were  within  a  few  steps  of  the  door  of  the  mansion,  when 
Lambounie  had  ceased  speaking — a  circumstance  very  agree- 
able to  Tressilian,  as  it  saved  him  the  embarrassment  of  either 
commenting  upon  or  replying  to  the  frank  '^avowal  which  his 
companion  had  just  made  of  the  sentiments  and  views  which 
induced  him  to  come  hither.  Lambourne  knocked  roundly 
and  boldly  at  the  huge  door  of  the  mansion,  observing,  at  the 
same  time,  he  had  seen  a  less  strong  one  upon  a  county  jail. 
It  was  not  until  they  had  knocked  more  than  once  that  an 
aged,  sour-visaged  domestic  reconnoitred  them  through  a  small 
square  hole  in  the  door,  well  secured  with  bars  of  iron,  and 
demanded  what  they  wanted. 

"  To  speak  with  Master  Foster  instantly,  on  pressing  busi- 
ness of  the  state, "  was  the  ready  reply  of  Michael  Lambourne. 

"Methinks  you  will  find  difficulty  to  make  that  good," 
said  Tressilian  in  a  whisper  to  his  companion,  while  the  ser- 
vant went  to  carry  the  message  to  his  master. 

"  Tush, "  replied  the  adventurer ;  "  no  soldier  would  go  on 
were  he  always  to  consider  when  and  how  he  should  come  off. 
Let  us  once  obtain  entrance,  and  all  will  go  well  enough. " 

In  a  short  time  the  servant  returned,  and  drawing  with  a 
careful  hand  both  bolt  and  bar,  opened  the  gate,  which  ad- 
mitted them  through  an  archway  into  a  square  court,  sur- 
rounded by  buildings.  Opposite  to  the  arch  was  another 
door,  which  the  serving-man  in  like  manner  unlocked,  and 
thus  introduced  them  into  a  stone-paved  parlour,  where  there 
was  but  little  furniture,  and  that  of  the  rudest  and  most 
ancient  fashion.  The  windows  were  tall  and  ample,  reaching 
almost  to  the  roof  of  the  room,  which  was  composed  of  black 
oak ;  those  opening  to  the  quadrangle  were  obscured  by  the 
height  of  the  surrounding  buildings,  and,  as  they  were  trav- 
ersed with  massive  shafts  of  solid  stonework,  and  thickly 
painted  with  religious  devices  and  scenes  taken  from  Scripture 
history,  by  no  means  admitted  light  in  proportion  to  their 
size;  and  what  did  penetrate  through  them  partook  of  the 
dark  and  gloomy  tinge  of  the  stained  glass. 

Tressilian  and  his  guide  had  time  enough  to  observe  all 


KENILWORTH.  43 

these  particulars,  for  they  waited  some  space  in  the  apartment 
■ere  the  present  master  of  the  mansion  at  length  made  his  ap- 
pearance. Prepared  as  he  was  to  see  an  inauspicious  and  ill- 
looking  person,  the  ugliness  of  Anthony  Foster  considerably 
exceeded  what  Tressilian  had  anticipated.  He  was  of  middle 
stature,  built  strongly,  but  so  clumsily  as  to  border  on  deform- 
ity, and  to  give  all  his  motions  the  ungainly  awkwardness  of 
a  left-legged  and  left-handed  man.  His  hair,  in  arrangmg 
which  men  at  that  time,  as  at  present,  were  very  nice  and 
curious,  instead  of  being  carefully  cleaned  and  disposed  into 
short  curls,  or  else  set  up  on  end,  as  is  represented  in  old 
paintings,  in  a  manner  resembling  that  used  by  fine  gentlemen 
of  our  own  day,  escaped  in  sable  negligence  from  under  a 
furred  bonnet,  and  hung  in  elf-locks,  which  seemed  strangers 
to  the  comb,  over  his  rugged  brows,  and  around  his  very 
singular  and  unprepossessing  countenance.  His  keen  dark 
«yes  were  deep  set  beneath  broad  and  shaggy  eyebrows,  and  as 
they  were  usually  bent  on  the  ground,  seemed  as  if  they  were 
themselves  ashamed  of  the  expression  natural  to  them,  and 
were  desirous  to  conceal  it  from  the  observation  of  men.  At 
times,  however,  when,  more  intent  on  observing  others,  he 
suddenly  raised  them,  and  fixed  them  keenly  on  those  with 
whom  he  conversed,  they  seemed  to  express  both  the  fiercer 
passions  and  the  power  of  mind  which  could  at  will  suppress 
or  disguise  the  intensity  of  inward  feeling.  The  features 
which  corresponded  with  these  eyes  and  this  form  were 
irregular,  and  marked  so  as  to  be  indelibly  fixed  on  the  mind 
of  him  who  had  once  seen  them.  Upon  the  whole,  as  Tres- 
silian could  not  help  acknowledging  to  himself,  the  Anthony 
Foster  who  now  stood  before  them  was  the  last  person,  judg- 
ing from  personal  appearance,  upon  whom  one  would  have 
chosen  to  intrude  an  unexpected  and  undesired  visit.  His 
attire  was  a  doublet  of  russet  leather,  like  those  worn  by  the 
better  sort  of  coimtry  folk,  girt  with  a  buff  belt,  in  which  was 
stuck  on  the  right  side  a  long  knife,  or  dudgeon  dagger,  and 
on  the  other  a  cutlass.  He  raised  his  eyes  as  he  entered  the 
room,  and  fixed  a  keenly  penetrating  glance  upon  his  two 
visitors,  then  cast  them  down  as  if  counting  his  steps,  while 


44  WAVERLET  NOVELS. 

he  advanced  slowly  into  the  middle  of  the  room,  and  said,  in 
a  low  and  smothered  tone  of  voice :  "  Let  me  pray  you,  gentle- 
men, to  tell  me  the  cause  of  this  visit. " 

He  looked  as  if  he  expected  the  answer  from  Tressilian ;  so 
true  was  Lambourne's  observation,  that  the  superior  air  of 
breeding  and  dignity  shone  through  the  disguise  of  an  inferior 
dress.  But  it  was  Michael  who  replied  to  him,  with  the  easy 
familiarity  of  an  old  friend,  and  a  tone  which  seemed  unem- 
barrassed by  any  doubt  of  the  most  cordial  reception. 

"Ha!  my  dear  friend  and  ingle,  Tony  Foster!"  he  ex- 
claimed, seizing  upon  the  unwilling  hand,  and  shaking  it  with 
such  emphasis  as  almost  to  stagger  the  sturdy  frame  of  the 
person  whom  he  addressed ;  "  how  fares  it  with  you  for  many 
a  long  year?  What!  have  you  altogether  forgotten  your 
friend,  gossip,  and  playfellow,  Michael  Lambourne?" 

"Michael  Lambourne!"  said  Foster,  looking  at  him  a  mo- 
ment ;  then  dropping  his  eyes,  and  with  little  ceremony  extri- 
cating his  hand  from  the  friendly  grasp  of  the  person  by  whom 
he  was  addressed — "are  you  Michael  Lambourne?" 

"Ay,  sure  as  you  are  Anthony  Foster,"  replied  Lam- 
bourne. 

"'Tis  well,"  answered  his  sullen  host;  "and  what  may 
Michael  Lambourne  expect  from  his  visit  hither?" 

"  Vofo  a  Dios, "  answered  Lambourne,  "  I  exrpected  a  better 
welcome  than  I  am  like  to  meet,  I  think." 

"Why,  thou  gallows-bird — thou  jail-rat — thou  friend  of  the 
hangman  and  his  customers,"  replied  Foster,  "hast  thou  the 
assurance  to  expect  countenance  from  any  one  whose  neck  is 
beyond  the  compass  of  a  Tyburn  tippet?" 

"  It  may  be  with  me  as  you  say, "  replied  Lambourne ;  "  and 
suppose  I  grant  it  to  be  so  for  argument's  sake,  I  were  still 
good  enough  society  for  mine  ancient  friend  Anthony  Fire-the- 
Fagot,  though  he  be,  for  the  present,  by  some  mdescribable 
title,  the  master  of  Cumnor  Place." 

"  Hark  you,  Michael  Lambourne, "  said  Foster ;  "  you  are  a 
gambler  now,  and  live  by  the  counting  of  chances.  Compute 
me  the  odds  that  I  do  not,  on  this  instant,  throw  you  out  of 
that  window  into  the  ditch  there." 


KENILWORTH.  4=5 

"Twenty  to  one  that  you  do  not,"  answered  the  sturdy 
visitor. 

"And  wherefore,  I  pray  you?"  demanded  Anthony  Foster, 
setting  his  teeth  and  compressing  his  lips,  like  one  who  en- 
deavours to  suppress  some  violent  internal  emotion. 

"Because,"  said  Lambourne,  cooUy,  "you  dare  not  for  your 
life  lay  a  finger  on  me.  I  am  younger  and  stronger  than  you, 
and  have  in  me  a  double  portion  of  the  fighting  devil,  though 
not,  it  may  be,  quite  so  much  of  the  undermining  fiend,  that 
finds  an  underground  way  to  his  purpose,  who  hides  halters 
under  folks'  pillows,  and  who  puts  ratsbane  into  their  por- 
ridge, as  the  stage-play  says." 

Foster  looked  at  him  earnestly,  then  turned  away,  and  paced 
the  room  twice,  with  the  same  steady  and  considerate  pace 
with  which  he  had  entered  it ;  then  suddenly  came  back,  and 
extended  his  hand  to  Michael  Lambourne,  saying :  "  Be  not 
wroth  with  me,  good  Mike ;  I  did  but  try  whether  thou  hadst 
parted  with  aught  of  thine  old  and  honourable  frankness, 
which  your  enviers  and  backbiters  called  saucy  impudence." 

"  Let  them  call  it  what  they  will, "  said  Michael  Lambourne, 
*'  it  is  the  commodity  we  must  carry  through  the  world  with 
us.  Uds  daggers !  I  tell  thee,  man,  mine  own  stock  of  assur- 
ance was  too  small  to  trade  upon :  I  was  fain  to  take  in  a  ton 
or  two  more  of  brass  at  every  port  where  I  touched  in  the 
voyage  of  life;  and  I  started  overboard  what  modesty  and 
scruples  I  had  remaining,  in  order  to  make  room  for  the 
stowage. " 

"  Nay,  nay, "  replied  Foster,  "  touching  scruples  and  mod- 
esty, you  sailed  hence  in  ballast.  But  who  is  this  gallant, 
honest  Mike?     Is  he  a  Corinthian — a  cutter  like  thyself?" 

"  I  prithee,  know  Master  TressUian,  bully  Foster, "  replied 
Lambourne,  presenting  his  friend  in  answer  to  his  friend's 
question — "  know  him  and  honour  him,  for  he  is  a  gentleman 
of  many  admirable  qualities;  and  though  he  traffics  not  in 
my  line  of  business,  at  least  so  far  as  I  know,  he  has,  never- 
theless, a  just  respect  and  admiration  for  artists  of  our  class. 
He  will  come  to  in  time,  as  seldom  fails ;  but  as  yet  he  is  only 
a  neophyte,  only  a  proselyte,  and  frequents  the  company  of 


46  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

cocks  of  tlie  game,  as  a  puny  fencer  does  the  scliools  of  the 
masters,  to  see  how  a  foil  is  handled  by  the  teachers  of  de^ 
fence. " 

"  If  such  be  his  quality,  I  will  pray  your  company  in  an- 
other chamber,  honest  Mike,  for  what  I  have  to  say  to  thee  is 
for  thy  private  ear.  Meanwhile,  I  pray  you,  sir,  to  abide  us 
in  this  apartment,  and  without  leaving  it :  there  be  those  in 
this  house  who  would  be  alarmed  by  the  sight  of  a  stranger. "  ' 

Tressilian  acquiesced,  and  the  two  worthies  left  the  apart- 
ment together,  in  which  he  remained  alone  to  await  their 
return. 


CHAPTER   IV. 


Not  serve  two  masters?    Here's  a  youth  will  try  it — 
Would  fain  serve  God,  yet  give  the  devil  his  due; 
Says  grace  before  he  doth  a  deed  of  villainy, 
And  returns  his  thanks  devoutly  when  'tis  acted. 

Old  Play. 

The  room  into  which  the  master  of  Cumnor  Place  conducted 
his  worthy  visitant  was  of  greater  extent  than  that  in  which 
they  had  at  first  conversed,  and  had  yet  more  the  appearance 
of  dilapidation.  Large  oaken  presses,  tilled  with  shelves  of 
the  same  wood,  surrounded  the  room,  and  had,  at  one  time, 
served  for  the  arrangement  of  a  numerous  collection  of  books, 
many  of  which  yet  remained,  but  torn  and  defaced,  covered 
with  dust,  deprived  of  their  costly  clasps  and  bindings,  and 
tossed  together  in  heaps  upon  the  shelves,  as  things  altogether 
disregarded,  and  abandoned  to  the  pleasure  of  every  spoiler. 
The  very  presses  themselves  seemed  to  have  incurred  the  hos- 
tility of  those  enemies  of  learning,  who  had  destroyed  the 
volumes  with  which  they  had  been  heretofore  filled.  They 
were,  in  several  places,  dismantled  of  their  shelves,  and  other- 
wise broken  and  damaged,  and  were,  moreover,  mantled  with 
cobwebs  and  covered  with  dust. 

"  The  men  who  wrote  these  books, "  said  Lambourne,  look- 

•  See  Foster,  Lambourne,  and  the  Black  Bear.    Note  8. 


KENILWORTH.  47 

ing  round  him,  "  little  thought  whose  keeping  they  were  to  fall 
into." 

"Nor  what  yeoman's  service  they  were  to  do  me,"  quoth 
Anthony  Foster :  *'  the  cook  hath  used  them  for  scourrag  his 
pewter,  and  the  groom  hath  had  nought  else  to  clean  my  boots 
with  this  many  a  month  past. " 

"  And  yet, "  said  Lambourne,  "  I  have  been  in  cities  where 
such  learned  commodities  would  have  been  deemed  too  good 
for  such  offices." 

"Pshaw — pshaw,"  answered  Poster,  "they  are  Popish 
trash,  every  one  of  them — private  studies  of  the  mumping  old 
abbot  of  Abingdon.  The  nineteenthly  of  a  pure  Gospel 
sermon  were  worth  a  cart-load  of  such  rakiags  of  the  kennel 
of  Eome." 

"  Gad-a-mercy,  Master  Tony  Fire-the-Pagot!"  said  Lam- 
bourne, by  way  of  reply. 

Foster  scowled  darkly  at  him,  as  he  replied :  "  Hark  ye, 
friend  Mike ;  forget  that  name,-  and  the  passage  which  it  re- 
lates to,  if  you  would  not  have  our  newly-revived  comrade- 
ship die  a  sudden  and  a  violent  death." 

"  Why, "  said  Michael  Lambourne,  "  you  were  wont  to  glory 
in  the  share  you  had  in  the  death  of  the  two  old  heretical 
bishops." 

"  That, "  said  his  comrade,  "  was  while  I  was  in  the  gall  of 
bitterness  and  bond  of  iniquity,  and  applies  not  to  my  walk  or 
my  ways  now  that  I  am  called  forth  into  the  lists.  Mr. 
Melchisedek  Maultext  compared  my  misfortune  in  that  matter 
to  that  of  the  Apostle  Paul,  who  kept  the  clothes  of  the  wit- 
nesses who  stoned  St.  Stephen.  He  held  forth  on  the  matter 
three  Sabbaths  past,  and  illustrated  the  same  by  the  conduct 
of  an  honourable  person  present,  meaning  me. " 

"  I  prithee  peace,  Foster, "  said  Lambourne ;  "  for,  I  know 
not  how  it  is,  I  have  a  sort  of  creeping  comes  over  my  skin 
when  I  hear  the  devil  quote  Scripture ;  and  besides,  man,  how 
couldst  thou  have  the  heart  to  quit  that  convenient  old  religion, 
which  you  could  slip  off  or  on  as  easily  as  your  glove?  Do  I 
not  remember  how  you  were  wont  to  carry  your  conscience  to 
confession,  as  duly  as  the  month  came  round?  and  when  thou 


48  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

hadst  it  scoured,  and  burnished,  and  whitowaslied  by  the 
priest,  thou  wert  ever  ready  for  the  worst  villainy  which 
could  be  devised,  like  a  child  who  is  always  readiest  to  rush 
into  the  mire  when  he  has  got  his  Sunday's  clean  jerkin  on." 

"Trouble  not  thyself  about  my  conscience,"  said  Foster, 
*'  it  is  a  thing  thou  canst  not  understand,  having  never  had 
one  of  thine  own.  But  let  us  rather  to  the  jjoint,  and  say  to 
me,  in  one  word,  what  is  thy  business  with  me,  and  what 
hopes  have  di-awn  thee  hither?" 

"  The  hope  of  bettering  myself,  to  be  sure, "  answered  Lam- 
bourne,  "as  the  old  woman  said,  when  she  leapt  over  the 
bridge  at  Kingston.  Look  you,  this  purse  has  all  that  is  left 
of  as  round  a  sum  as  a  man  would  wish  to  carry  in  his  slop- 
pouch.  You  a,re  here  well  established,  it  would  seem,  and,  as 
I  think,  well  befriended,  for  men  talk  of  thy  being  under  some 
special  protection;  nay,  stare  not  like  a  pig  that  is  stuck, 
mon,  thou  canst  not  dance  in  a  net  and  they  not  see  thee? 
Now  I  know  such  protection  is  not  purchased  for  nought :  you 
must  have  services  to  render  for  it,  and  in  these  I  propose  to 
help  thee." 

"  But  how  if  I  lack  no  assistance  from  thee,  Mike?  I  think 
thy  modesty  might  sui^pose  that  were  a  case  possible." 

"That  is  to  say,"  retorted  Lambourne,  "that  you  would 
engross  the  whole  work  rather  than  divide  the  reward ;  but  be 
not  over-greedy,  Anthony.  Covetousness  bursts  the  sack  and 
spills  the  grain.  Look  you,  when  the  huntsman  goes  to  kill  a 
stag,  he  takes  with  him  more  dogs  than  one.  He  has  the 
stanch  lyme-hound  to  track  the  wounded  buck  over  hill  and 
dale,  but  he  hath  also  the  fleet  gaze-hound  to  kill  him  at  view. 
Thou  art  the  lyme-hound,  I  am  the  gaze-hound,  and  thy 
patron  will  need  the  aid  of  both,  and  can  well  afford  to  re- 
quite it.  Thou  hast  deep  sagacity,  an  unrelenting  purpose,  a 
steady,  long-breathed  malignity  of  nature,  that  surpasses 
mine.  But  then  I  am  the  bolder,  the  quicker,  the  more  ready, 
both  at  action  and  expedient.  Separate,  our  propei"ties  are 
not  so  perfect ;  but  unite  them,  and  we  drive  the  world  before 
us.     How  sayst  thou,  shall  we  hunt  in  couples?" 

**  It  is  a  currish  proposal,  thus  to  thrust  thyself  upon  my 


KENILWORTH.  49 

private  matters,"  replied  Foster;  "but  thou  wert  ever  an  ill- 
nurtured  whelp/' 

"  You  shall  have  no  cause  to  say  so,  unless  you  spurn  my 
courtesy,"  said  Michael  Lambourne;  "but  if  so,  keep  thee 
well  from  me,  sir  knight,  as  the  romance  has  it.  I  will  either 
share  your  counsels  or  traverse  them ;  for  I  have  come  here  to 
be  busy,  either  with  thee  or  against  thee." 

"  Well, "  said  Anthony  Foster,  "  since  thou  dost  leave  me  so 
fair  a  choice,  I  will  rather  be  thy  friend  than  thine  enemy. 
Thou  art  right :  I  can  prefer  thee  to  the  service  of  a  patron 
who  has  enough  of  means  to  make  us  both  and  an  hundred 
more.  And,  to  say  truth,  thou  art  well  qualified  for  his  ser- 
vice. Boldness  and  dexterity  he  demands — the  justice-books 
bear  witness  in  thy  favour ;  no  starting  at  scruples  in  his  ser- 
vice— why,  who  ever  suspected  thee  of  a  conscience?  an  assur- 
ance he  must  have  who  would  follow  a  courtier — and  thy  brow 
is  as  impenetrable  as  a  Milan  visor.  There  is  but  one  thing  I 
would  fain  see  amended  in  thee." 

"And  what  is  that,  my  most  precious  friend  Anthony?" 
replied  Lambourne ;  "  for  I  swear  by  the  pillow  of  the  Seven 
Sleepers,  I  will  not  be  slothful  in  amending  it." 

"  Why,  you  gave  a  sample  of  it  even  now, "  said  Foster. 
**Your  speech  twangs  too  much  of  the  old  stamp,  and  you 
garnish  it  ever  and  anon  with  singular  oaths,  that  savour  of 
Paptistrie.  Besides,  your  exterior  man  is  altogether  too  de- 
boshed  and  irregular  to  become  one  of  his  lordship's  followers, 
since  he  has  a  reputation  to  keep  up  in  the  eye  of  the  world. 
You  must  somewhat  reform  your  dress,  upon  a  more  grave  and 
composed  fashion;  wear  your  cloak  on  both  shoulders,  and 
your  falling  band  unrumpled  and  well  starched.  You  must 
enlarge  the  brim  of  your  beaver,  and  diminish  the  superfluity 
of  your  trunk-hose;  go  to  church,  or,  which  will  be  better,  to 
meeting,  at  least  once  a  month ;  protest  only  upon  your  faith 
and  conscience ;  lay  aside  your  sAvashuig  look,  and  never  touch 
the  hilt  of  your  sword  but  when  you  would  draw  the  carnal 
weapon  in  good  earnest." 

"By  this  light,  Anthony,  thou  art  mad,"  answered  Lam- 
boui'ne,  "  and  hast  described  rather  the  gentleman-usher  to  a 
4 


50  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

Puritan's  wife  than  the  follower  of  an  ambitious  courtier! 
Yes,  such  a  thing  as  thou  wouldst  make  of  me  should  wear  a 
book  at  his  girdle  instead  of  a  poniard,  and  might  just  be  sus- 
pected of  manhood  enough  to  squire  a  proud  dame-citizen  to 
the  lecture  at  St.  Antonlin's,  and  quarrel  in  her  cause  with 
any  flat-capp'd  threadmaker  that  would  take  the  wall  of  her. 
He  must  ruffle  it  in  another  sort  that  would  walk  to  court  in 
a  nobleman's  train." 

"  Oh,  content  you,  sir, "  replied  Foster,  "  there  is  a  change 
since  you  knew  the  English  world ;  and  there  are  those  who 
can  hold  their  way  through  the  boldest  courses,  and  the  most 
secret,  and  yet  never  a  swaggering  word,  or  an  oath,  or  a  pro- 
fane word  in  their  conversation." 

*'  That  is  to  say, "  replied  Lambourne,  "  they  are  in  a  trading 
copartnery  to  do  the  devil's  business  without  mentioning  his 
name  in  the  firm?  Well,  I  will  do  my  best  to  counterfeit, 
rather  than  lose  ground  in  this  new  world,  since  thou  sayest  it 
is  grown  so  precise.  But,  Anthony,  what  is  the  name  of  this 
nobleman,  in  whose  service  I  am  to  turn  hypocrite?" 

"Aha!  Master  Michael,  are  you  there  with  your  bears?" 
said  Foster,  with  a  grim  smile ;  "  and  is  this  the  knowledge 
you  pretend  of  my  concernments?  How  know  you  now  there 
is  such  a  person  in  rerum  nafura,  and  that  I  have  not  been, 
putting  a  jape  upon  you  all  this  time?" 

"  Thou  put  a  jape  on  me,  thou  sodden-brained  gull?"  an- 
swered Lambourne,  nothing  daunted ;  "  why,  dark  and  muddy 
as  thou  think' st  thyself,  I  would  engage  in  a  day's  space  to  see 
as  clear  through  thee  and  thy  concernments,  as  thou  call'st 
them,  as  through  the  filthy  horn  of  an  old  stable  lantern." 

At  this  moment  their  conversation  was  interrupted  by  a 
scream  from  the  next  apartment. 

"By  the  holy  cross  of  Abingdon,"  exclaimed  Anthony 
Foster,  forgetting  his  Protestantism  in  his  alarm,  "I  am  a 
ruined  man!" 

So  saying,  he  rushed  into  the  apartment  whence  the  scream 
issued,  followed  by  Michael  Lambourne.  But  to  account  for 
the  sounds  which  interrupted  their  conversation  it  is  necessary 
to  recede  a  little  way  in  our  narrative. 


KENILWORTH.  61 

It  has  been  already  observed  tbat,  wben  Lambourne  accom- 
panied Foster  into  the  library,  they  left  Tressilian  alone  in 
the  ancient  parlour.  His  dark  eye  followed  them  forth  of  the 
apartment  with  a  glance  of  contempt,  a  part  of  which  his  mind 
instantly  transferred  to  himself,  for  having  stooped  to  be  even 
for  a  moment  their  familiar  companion.  "  These  are  the  asso- 
ciates. Amy" — it  was  thus  he  communed  with  himself — "  to 
which  thy  cruel  levity,  thine  unthinking  and  most  unmerited 
falsehood,  has  condemned  him  of  whom  his  friends  once  hoped 
far  other  things,  and  who  now  scorns  himself,  as  he  will  be 
scorned  by  others,  for  the  baseness  he  stoops  to  for  the  love 
of  thee!  But  I  will  not  leave  the  pursuit  of  thee,  once  the 
object  of  my  purest  and  most  devoted  affection,  though  to  me 
thou  canst  henceforth  be  nothing  but  a  thing  to  weep  over.  I 
will  save  thee  from  thy  betrayer  and  from  thyself.  I  will  re- 
store thee  to  thy  parents — to  thy  God.  I  cannot  bid  the 
bright  star  again  sparkle  in  the  sphere  it  has  shot  from, 
but " 

A  slight  noise  in  the  apartment  interrupted  his  reverie ;  he 
looked  round,  and  in  the  beautiful  and  richly-attired  female 
who  entered  at  that  instant  by  a  side  door  he  recognised  the 
object  of  his  search.  The  first  impulse  arising  from  this  dis- 
covery urged  him  to  conceal  his  face  with  the  collar  of  his 
cloak,  until  he  should  find  a  favourable  moment  of  making 
himself  known.  But  his  purpose  was  disconcerted  by  the 
young  lady  (she  was  not  above  eighteen  years  old),  who  ran 
joyfully  towards  him,  and,  pulling  him  by  the  cloak,  said 
playfully :  "  Nay,  my  sweet  friend,  after  I  have  waited  for  you 
so  long,  you  come  not  to  my  bower  to  play  the  masquer.  You 
are  arraigned  of  treason  to  true  love  and  fond  affection ;  and 
you  must  stand  up  at  the  bar  and  answer  it  with  face  uncov- 
ered— how  say  you,  guilty  or  not?" 

"Alas,  Amy!"  said  Tressilian,  in  a  low  and  melancholy 
tone,  as  he  suffered  her  to  draw  the  mantle  from  his  face. 
The  sound  of  his  voice,  and  still  more  the  miexpected  sight  of 
his  face,  changed  in  an  instant  the  lady's  playful  mood.  She 
staggered  back,  turned  as  pale  as  death,  and  put  her  hands 
before  her  face.     Tressilian  was  himself  for  a  moment  much 


52  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

overcome,  but  seeming  suddenly  to  remember  tlie  necessity  of 
using  an  opportunity  which,  might  not  again  occur,  he  said  ia 
alow  tone:  "Amy,  fear  me  not." 

"Why  should  I  fear  you?"  said  the  lady,  withdrawing  her 
hands  from  her  beautiful  face,  which  was  now  covered  with 
crimson — "why  should  I  fear  you,  Mr.  Tressilian?  or  where- 
fore have  you  intruded  yourself  into  my  dwelling,  uninvited, 
sir,  and  unwished  for?" 

"Your  dwelling,  Amy!"  said  Tressilian.  "Alas!  is  a 
prison  your  dwelling? — a  prison  guarded  by  one  of  the 
most  sordid  of  men,  but  not  a  greater  wretch  than  his  em- 
ployer!" 

"  This  house  is  mine, "  said  Amy — "  mine  while  I  choose  to 
inhabit  it.  If  it  is  my  pleasure  to  live  in  seclusion,  who  shall 
gainsay  me?" 

"Your  father,  maiden,"  answered  Tressilian — "your  broken- 
hearted father,  who  despatched  me  in  quest  of  you  with  that 
authority  which  he  cannot  exert  in  person.  Here  is  his  letter, 
written  while  he  blessed  his  pain  of  body  which  somewhat 
stunned  the  agony  of  his  mind. " 

" The  pain!  is  my  father  then  ill?"  said  the  lady. 

"  So  ill,"  answered  TressiLian,  "that  even  your  utmost  haste 
may  not  restore  him  to  health ;  but  all  shall  be  instantly  pre- 
pared for  your  departure  the  instant  you  yourself  will  giv© 
consent." 

"  Tressilian, "  answered  the  lady,  "  I  cannot — I  must  not — 
I  dare  not  leave  this  place.  Go  back  to  my  father ;  tell  him. 
I  will  obtain  leave  to  see  him  within  twelve  hours  from  hence. 
Go  back,  Tressilian ;  tell  him  I  am  well,  I  am  happy — happy 
could  I  think  he  was  so  j  tell  him  not  to  fear  that  I  will  come, 
and  in  such  a  manner  that  all  the  grief  Amy  has  given  him 
shall  be  forgotten — the  poor  Amy  is  now  greater  than  she  dare 
name.  Go,  good  Tressilian ;  I  have  injured  thee  too,  but  be- 
lieve me  I  have  power  to  heal  the  wounds  I  have  caused :  I 
robbed  you  of  a  childish  heart,  which  was  not  worthy  of  you, 
and  I  can  repay  the  loss  with  honours  and  advancement." 

"  Do  you  say  this  to  me.  Amy?  Do  you  offer  me  pageants 
of  idle  ambition  for  the  quiet  peace  you  have  robbed  me  of? 


KENILWORTH.  5$ 

But  be  it  so — I  came  Bot  to  upbraid,  but  to  serve  and  to  free 
you.  You  cannot  disguise  it  from  me — you  are  a  prisoner. 
Otherwise  your  kind  heart — for  it  was  once  a  kind  heart — 
would  have  been  already  at  your  father's  bed-side.  Come, 
poor,  deceived,  unhappy  maiden.  All  shall  be  forgot — all 
shall  be  forgiven.  Fear  not  my  importunity  for  what  re- 
garded '^ur  contract;  it  was  a  dream,  and  I  have  awaked. 
But  come;  your  father  yet  lives.  Come,  and  one  word  of 
affection — one  tear  of  penitence,  will  efface  the  memory  of  all 
that  has  passed." 

"  Have  I  not  already  said,  Tressilian, "  replied  she,  "  that  1 
will  surely  come  to  my  father,  and  that  without  farther  delay 
than  is  necessary  to  discharge  other  and  equally  binding 
duties?  Go,  carry  him  the  news.  I  come  as  sure  as  there  is 
light  in  heaven — that  is,  when  I  obtain  permission." 

"  Permission ! — permission  to  visit  your  father  on  his  sick- 
bed, perhaps  on  his  death-bed!"  repeated  Tressilian,  impa- 
tiently; "  and  permission  from  whom?  From  the  villain  who,, 
under  disguise  of  friendship,  abused  every  duty  of  hospitality, 
and  stole  thee  from  thy  father's  roof!" 

"  Do  him  no  slander,  Tressilian !  He  whom  thou  speakest 
of  wears  a  sword  as  sharp  as  thine — sharper,  vain  man ;  for 
the  best  deeds  thou  hast  ever  done  in  peace  or  war  were  as 
unworthy  to  be  named  with  his  as  thy  obscure  rank  to  match 
itself  with  the  sphere  he  moves  in.  Leave  me !  Go,  do  mine 
errand  to  my  father,  and  when  he  next  sends  to  me,  let  him 
choose  a  more  welcome  messenger." 

"  Amy,"  replied  Tressilian,  calmly,  "  thou  canst  not  move  ma 
by  thy  reproaches.  Tell  me  one  thing,  that  I  may  bear  at  least 
one  ray  of  comfort  to  my  aged  friend.  This  rank  of  his  which 
thou  dost  boast — dost  thou  share  it  with  him,  Amy?  Does  h© 
claim  a  husband's  right  to  control  thy  motions?" 

"Stop  thy  base,  unmannered  tongue!"  said  the  lady;  "to 
no  question  that  derogates  from  my  honour  do  I  deign  an  an- 
swer." 

"You  have  said  enough  in  refusing  to  reply,"  answered 
Tressilian ;  "  and  mark  me,  unhappy  as  thou  art,  I  am  armed 
with  thy  father's  full  authority  to  command  thy  obedience 


54  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

and  I  will  save  thee  from  the  slavery  of  sin  and  of  sorrow, 
even  despite  of  thyself,  Amy." 

"Menace  no  violence  here!"  exclaimed  the  lady,  drawing 
back  from  him,  and  alarmed  at  the  determination  expressed 
in  his  look  and  manner :  "  threaten  me  not,  Tressilian,  for  I 
have  means  to  repel  force." 

"  But  not,  I  trust,  the  wish  to  use  them  in  so  evil  a  cause?" 
said  Tressilian.  "With  thy  will — thine  uninfluenced,  free, 
and  natural  vrill.  Amy,  thou  canst  not  choose  this  state  of 
slavery  and  dishonour :  thou  hast  been  bound  by  some  spell — 
entrapped  by  some  deceit — art  now  detained  by  some  com- 
pelled vow.  But  thus  I  break  the  charm :  Amy,  in  the  name 
of  thine  excellent,  thy  broken-hearted  father,  I  command  thee 
t»  follow  me!" 

As  he  spoke,  he  advanced  and  extended  his  arm,  as  with 
the  purpose  of  laying  hold  upon  her.  But  she  shrunk 
back  from  his  grasp,  and  uttered  the  scream  which,  as  we 
before  noticed,  brought  into  the  apartment  Lambourne  and. 
Foster. 

The  latter  exclaimed,  as  soon  he  entered:  "Fire  and  fagot! 
what  have  we  here?"  Then  addressing  the  lady,  in  a  tone 
betwixt  entreaty  and  command,  he  added:  "Uds  precious! 
madam,  what  make  you  here  out  of  bounds?  Ketire — retire; 
there  is  life  and  death  in  this  matter.  And  you,  friend,  who- 
ever you  may  be,  leave  this  house :  out  with  you,  before  my 
dagger's  hilt  and  your  costard  become  acquainted.  Draw, 
Mike,  and  rid  us  of  the  knave!" 

"Not  I,  on  my  soul,"  replied  Lambourne;  "he  came  hither 
in  my  company,  and  he  is  safe  from  me  by  cutter's  law,  at 
least  till  we  meet  again.  But  hark  ye,  my  Cornish  comrade, 
you  have  brought  a  Cornish  flaw  of  wind  with  you  hither — a 
hurricanoe  as  they  call  it  in  the  Indies.  Make  yourself  scarce 
— depart — vanish,  or  we'll  have  you  summoned  before  the 
Mayor  of  Halgaver,  and  that  before  Dudman  and  Kamhead 
meet." 

"Away,  base  groom!"  said  Tressilian.  "And  you,  madam, 
fare  you  well;  what  life  lingers  in  your  father's  bosom  will 
leave  him  at  the  news  I  have  to  tell." 


KENILWORTH.  55 

He  departed,  the  lady  saying  faintly  as  lie  left  the  room : 
"Tressilian,  be  not  rash — say  no  scandal  of  me." 

"  Here  is  proper  gear, "  said  Foster.  "  I  pray  you  go  to 
your  chamber,  my  lady,  and  let  us  consider  how  this  is  to  be 
answered ;  nay,  tarry  not. " 

"  I  move  not  at  your  command,  sir, "  answered  the  lady. 

"Nay,  but  you  must,  fair  lady,"  replied  Foster;  "excuse 
my  freedom,  but,  by  blood  and  nails,  this  is  no  time  to  strain 
courtesies — you  nnist  go  to  your  chamber.  Mike,  follow  that 
meddling  coxcomb,  and,  as  you  desire  to  thrive,  see  him  safely 
clear  of  the  premises,  while  I  bring  this  headstrong  lady  to 
reason.     Draw  thy  tool,  man,  and  after  him." 

"I'll  follow  him,"  said  Michael  Lambourne,  "and  see  him 
fairly  out  of  Flanders.  But  for  hurting  a  man  I  have  drunk 
my  morning's  draught  withal,  'tis  clean  against  my  con- 
science."    So  saying,  he  left  the  apartment. 

Tressilian,  meanwhile,  with  hasty  steps,  pursued  the  first 
path  which  promised  to  conduct  him  through  the  wild  and 
overgrown  park  in  which  the  mansion  of  Foster  was  situated. 
Haste  and  distress  of  mind  led  his  steps  astray,  and,  instead 
of  taking  the  avenue  which  led  towards  the  village,  he  chose 
another,  which,  after  he  had  pursued.it  for  some  time  with 
a  hasty  and  reckless  step,  conducted  him  to  the  other  side  of 
the  demesne,  where  a  postern  door  opened  through  the  wall, 
and  led  into  the  open  country. 

Tressilian  paused  an  instant.  It  was  indifferent  to  him  by 
what  road  he  left  a  spot  now  so  odious  to  his  recollections; 
but  it  was  probable  that  the  postern  door  was  locked,  and  his 
retreat  by  that  pass  rendered  impossible. 

"I  must  make  the  attempt,  however,"  he  said  to  himself; 
"  the  only  means  of  reclaiming  this  lost — this  miserable — this 
still  most  lovely  and  most  unhappy  girl — must  rest  in  her 
father's  appeal  to  the  broken  laws  of  his  country;  I  must  haste 
to  apprise  him  of  this  heartrending  intelligence." 

As  Tressilian,  thus  conversing  with  himself,  approached  to 
try  some  means  of  openmg  the  door,  or  climbing  over  it,  he 
perceived  there  was  a  key  put  into  the  lock  from  the  outside. 
It  turned  round,  the  bolt  revolved,  and  a  cavalier,  who  en- 


.66  WAVERLSY  NOVELS. 

tered,  muffled  in  his  riding-cloak,  and  wearing  a  slouched  hat 
with  a  drooping  feather,  stood  at  once  within  four  yards  of 
him.  who  was  desirous  of  gohag  out.  They  exclaimed  at  once, 
in  tones  of  resentment  and  surprise,  -  the  one  ''Vamey!"  the 
other  "Tressilian!" 

"What  make  you  here?"  was  the  stern  question  put  by  the 
stranger  to  Tressilian,  when  the  moment  of  surprise  was  past 
— "  what  make  you  here,  where  your  presence  is  neither  ex- 
pected nor  desired?" 

"Nay,  Varney,"  replied  Tressilian,  "what  make  T/ouheve? 
Are  you  come  to  triumph  over  the  innocence  you  have  de- 
stroyed, as  the  vulture  or  carrion-crow  comes  to  batten  on  the 
lamb,  whose  eyes  it  has  first  plucked  out?  Or  are  you  come 
to  encounter  the  merited  vengeance  of  an  honest  man?  Draw, 
dog,  and  defend  thyself!" 

Tressilian  drew  his  sword  as  he  spoke;  but  Varney  only 
laid  his  hand  on  the  hilt  of  his  own,  as  he  replied :  "  Thou  art 
mad,  Tressilian.  I  own  appearances  are  against  me,  but  by 
^very  oath  a  priest  can  make,  or  a  man  can  swear.  Mistress 
Amy  Robsart  hath  had  no  injury  from  me;  and  in  truth  I 
were  somewhat  loth  to  hurt  you  in  this  cause.  Thou  know'st 
I  can  fight." 

"I  have  heard  thee  say  so,  Varney,"  replied  Tressilian; 
^'  but  now,  methinks,  I  would  fain  have  some  better  evidence 
than  thme  own  word." 

"  That  shall  not  be  lacking,  if  blade  and  hilt  be  but  true  to 
me, "  answered  Varney ;  and  drawing  his  sword  with  the  right 
liand,  he  threw  his  cloak  around  his  left,  and  attacked  Tres- 
silian with  a  vigour  which,  for  a  moment,  seemed  to  give  him 
"the  advantage  of  the  combat.  But  this  advantage  lasted  not 
long.  Tressilian  added  to  a  spirit  determined  on  revenge  a 
hand  and  eye  admirably  well  adapted  to  the  use  of  the  rapier; 
«o  that  Varney,  finding  himself  hard  pressed  in  his  turn,  en- 
deavoured to  avail  himself  of  his  superior  strength,  by  closing 
with  his  adversary.  For  this  purpose,  he  hazarded  the  receiv- 
ing one  of  Tressilian's  passes  in  his  cloak,  wrapt  as  it  was 
:around  his  arm,  and  ere  his  adversary  could  extricate  his  ra- 
pier  thus  entangled,  he  closed  with  him,  shortening  his  own 


KENILTTORTH.  57" 

sword  at  the  same  time,  with  the  purpose  ox  despatching  him^ 
But  Tressiliau  was  ou.  his  guard,  and,  unsheathing  his  poniard^ 
parried  with  the  blade  of  that  weapon  the  home-thrust  whicli 
would  otherwise  have  finished  the  combat,  and,  in  the  struggle 
which  followed,  displayed  so  much  addi-ess  as  might  have  con- 
firmed tftie  opinion  that  he  drew  his  origin  from  Cornwall, 
whose  natives  are  such  masters  in  the  art  of  wrestling  as,  were- 
the  games  of  antiquity  revived,  might  enable  them  to  chal- 
lenge all  Europe  to  the  ring,  Varney,  in  his  ill-advised  at- 
tempt, received  a  fall  so  sudden  and  violent  that  his  sword  fle-w 
several  paces  from  his  hand,  and  ere  he  could  recover  his  feet 
that  of  his  antagonist  was  pointed  to  his  throat. 

"  Give  me  the  instant  means  of  relieving  the  victim  of  thy 
treachery,"  said  Tressilian,  "or  take  the  last  look  of  your 
Creator's  blessed  sim!" 

And  while  Varney,  too  confused  or  too  sullen  to  reply,, 
made  a  sudden  effort  to  arise,  his  adversary  drew  back  his- 
arm,  and  would  have  executed  his  threat,  but  that  the  blow- 
was  arrested  by  the  grasp  of  Michael  Lambourne,  who, 
directed  by  the  clashing  of  swords,  had  come  up  just  in  time- 
to  save  the  life  of  Varney. 

"  Come — come,  comrade, "  said  Lambourne,  "  here  is  enough 
done,  and  more  than  enough;  put  up  your  fox,  and  let  us  be- 
jogging.     The  Black  Bear  growls  for  us." 

"Off,  abject!"  said  Tressilian,  striking  himself  free  of 
Lambourne's  grasp;  "darest  thou  come  betwixt  me  and  mine 
enemy?" 

"Abject — abject!"  repeated  Lambourne:  "that  shall  be 
answered  with  cold  steel  whenever  a  bowl  of  sack  has  washed 
out  memory  of  the  morning's  draught  that  we  had  together. 
In  the  mean  while,  do  you  see,  shog — tramp — begone;  we  are 
two  to  one." 

He  spoke  truth,  for  Varney  had  taken  the  opportunity  ta 
regain  his  weapon,  and  Tressilian  perceived  it  was  madness  to 
press  the  quarrel  farther  against  such  odds.  He  took  his 
purse  from  his  side,  and  taking  out  two  gold  nobles,  flung 
them  to  Lambourne :  "  There,  caitiff,  is  thy  morning  wage : 
thou  shalt  not  say  thou  hast  been  my  guide  unhired,     Varney^ 


68  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

farewell;  we  shall  meet  where  there  are  none  to  come  betwixt 
us. "  So  saying,  he  turned  round,  and  departed  through  the 
postern  door. 

Varney  seemed  to  want  the  inclination,  or  perhaps  the 
power,  for  his  fall  had  been  a  severe  one,  to  follow  his  retreat- 
ing enemy.  But  he  glared  darkly  as  he  disappeared,  and  then 
addressed  Lambourne ;  "  Art  thou  a  comrade  of  Foster's,  good 
fellow?" 

"  Sworn  friends,  as  the  haft  is  to  the  knife,"  replied  Michael 
Lambourne. 

"  Here  is  a  broad  piece  for  thee ;  follow  yonder  fellow,  and 
see  where  he  takes  earth,  and  bring  me  word  up  to  the  man- 
sion-house here.  Cautious  and  silent,  thou  knave,  as  thou 
vainest  thy  throat." 

"Enough  said,"  replied  Lambourne;  "I  can  di-aw  on  a 
scent  as  well  as  a  sleuth-hound." 

"Begone,  then,"  said  Varney,  sheathing  his  rapier;  and, 
turning  his  back  on  Michael  Lambourne,  he  walked  slowly 
towards  the  house. 

Lambourne  stopped  but  an  instant  to  gather  the  nobles 
which  his  late  companion  had  flung  towards  him  so  uncere- 
moniously, and  muttered  to  himseK,  while  he  put  them  up  in 
his  purse  along  with  the  gratuity  of  Varney:  "I  spoke  to 
yonder  gulls  of  Eldorado.  By  St.  Anthony,  there  is  no 
Eldorado  for  men  of  our  stamp  equal  to  bonny  Old  England! 
It  rains  nobles,  by  Heaven ;  they  lie  on  the  grass  as  thick  as 
dewdrops ;  you  may  have  them  for  gathering.  And  if  I  have 
not  my  share  of  such  glittering  dewdrops,  may  my  sword  melt 
like  an  icicle!" 


KENILWORTH.  '^9 


CHAPTER   V. 

He  was  a  man 
Versed  in  the  world  as  pilot  in  his  compass. 
The  needle  pointed  ever  to  that  interest 
Which  was  his  loadstar,  and  he  spread  his  sails 
With  vantage  to  the  gale  of  others'  passion. 

T/ie  Deceiver,  a  Tragedy. 

Anthony  Foster  was  still  engaged  in  debate  with  his  fair 
guest,  who  treated  with  scorn  every  entreaty  and  request  that 
she  would  retire  to  her  own  apartment,  when  a  whistle  was 
heard  at  the  entrance  door  of  the  mansion. 

"We  are  fairly  sped  now,"  said  Foster;  "yonder  is  thy 
lord's  signal,  and  what  to  say  about  the  disorder  which  has 
happened  in  this  household,  by  my  conscience,  I  know  not. 
Some  evil  fortune  dogs  the  heels  of  that  unhanged  rogue  Lam- 
bourne,  and  he  has  'scaped  the  gallows  against  every  chance, 
to  come  back  and  be  the  ruin  of  me!" 

"Peace,  sir,"  said  the  lady,  "and  undo  the  gate  to  your 
master.  My  lord! — my  dear  lord!"  she  then  exclaimed,  has- 
tening to  the  entrance  of  the  apartment;  then  added,  with  a 
voice  expressive  of  disappointment:  "Pooh!  it  is  but  Richard 
Varney." 

"  Ay,  madam, "  said  Varney,  entering  and  saluting  the  lady 
with  a  respectful  obeisance,  which  she  returned  with  a  care- 
less mixture  of  negligence  and  of  displeasure,  "  it  is  but  Rich- 
ard Varney ;  but  even  the  first  grey  cloud  should  be  acceptable, 
when  it  lightens  in  the  east,  because  it  announces  the  approach 
of  the  blessed  sun. " 

"How!  comes  my  lord  hitherto-night?"  said  the  lady,  in 
joyful  yet  startled  agitation ;  and  Anthony  Foster  caught  up 
the  word,  and  echoed  the  question.  Varney  replied  to  the 
lady,  that  his  lord  purposed  to  attend  her,  and  would  have 
proceeded  with  some  compliment,  when,  running  to  the  door 
of  the  parlour,  she  called  aloud :  "  Janet — Janet,  come  to  my 
tiring-room  instantly."  Then  returning  to  Varney,  she  asked 
if  her  lord  sent  any  farther  commendations  to  her. 


j60  waverley  novels. 

"  This  letter,  honoured  madam, "  said  he,  taking  from  his 
bosom  a  small  parcel  wrapt  in  scarlet  silk,  "  and  with  it  a  tok- 
en to  the  queen  of  his  affections."  With  eager  speed  the  lady- 
hastened  to  undo  the  silken  string  which  surrounded  the  little 
packet,  and  failing  to  unloose  readily  the  knot  with  which  it 
was  secured,  she  again  called  loudly  on  Janet :  "  Bring  me 
a  knife — scissors — aught  that  may  undo  this  envious  knot!" 

"  May  not  my  poor  poniard  serve,  honoured  madam, "  said 
Varney,  presenting  a  small  dagger  of  exquisite  workmanship, 
which  hung  in  his  Turkey-leather  sword-belt. 

"No,  sir,"  replied  the  lady,  rejecting  the  instrument  which 
lie  offered.  "  Steel  poniard  shall  cut  no  true-love  knot  of 
mine. " 

"It  has  cut  many,  however,"  said  Anthony  Foster,  half- 
aside,  and  looking  at  Varney.  By  this  time  the  knot  was  dis- 
entangled without  any  other  help  than  the  neat  and  nimble 
fingers  of  Janet — a  simply-attired,  pretty  maiden,  the  daugh- 
ter of  Anthony  Foster,  who  came  running  at  the  repeated  call 
of  her  mistress.  A  necklace  of  orient  pearl,  the  companion 
of  a  perfumed  billet,  was  now  hastily  produced  from  the 
packet.  The  lady  gave  the  one,  after  a  slight  glance,  to  the 
charge  of  her  attendant,  while  she  read,  or  rather  devoured, 
the  contents  of  the  other. 

"  Surely,  lady, "  said  Janet,  gazing  with  admiration  at  the 
Tieck-string  of  pearls,  "  the  daughters  of  Tyre  wore  no  fairer 
neck-jewels  than  these.  And  then  the  posy,  'For  a  neck  that 
is  fairer,' — each  pearl  is  worth  a  freehold." 

"  Each  word  m  this  dear  paper  is  worth  the  whole  string,  my 
girl.  But  come  to  my  tiring-room,  girl ;  we  must  be  brave, 
my  lord  comes  hither  to-night.  He  bids  me  grace  you.  Mas- 
ter Varney,  and  to  me  his  wish  is  a  law.  I  bid  you  to  a  col- 
lation in  my  bower  this  afternoon,  and  you,  too.  Master 
Foster.  Give  orders  that  all  is  fitting,  and  that  suitable  prep- 
arations be  made  for  my  lord's  reception  to-night."  With 
■these  words  she  left  the  apartment. 

"  She  takes  state  on  her  already,"  said  Varney,  "and  dis- 
•tributes  the  favour  of  her  presence,  as  if  she  were  already 
the  partner  of  his  dignity.     Well,  it  is  wise  to  practise  before- 


KENILWORTH.  61 

liand  tlie  part  whicli  fortune  prepares  us  to  play :  the  young 
eagle  must  gaze  at  the  sun,  ere  he  soars  on  strong  wing  to 
meet  it." 

"  If  holding  her  head  aloft, "  said  Foster,  "  will  keep  her 
eyes  from  dazzling,  I  warrant  you  the  dame  will  not  stoop  her 
crest.  She  will  presently  soar  beyond  reach  of  my  whistle, 
Master  Varney.  I  promise  you,  she  holds  me  already  ia  slight 
regard." 

*•'  It  is  thine  own  fault,  thou  sullen,  uninventive  companion, " 
answered  Varney,  "who  know'st  no  mode  of  control,  save 
downright  brute  force.  Canst  thou  not  make  home  pleasant 
to  her  vnth  music  and  toys?  Canst  thou  not  make  the  out- 
of-doors  fi-ightful  to  her,  with  tales  of  goblins?  Thou  livest 
here  by  the  churchyard,  and  hast  not  even  wit  enough  to 
raise  a  ghost,  to  scare  thy  females  into  good  discipline." 

"  Speak  not  thus,  Master  Yamey, "  said  Foster ;  "  the  living 
I  fear  not,  but  I  trifle  not  nor  toy  with  my  dead  neighbours 
of  the  churchyard.  I  promise  you,  it  requires  a  good  heart  to 
live  so  near  it;  worthy  Master  Holdforth,  the  afternoon's  lec- 
turer of  St.  Antonliii's,  had  a  sore  fright  there  the  last  time 
he  came  to  visit  me." 

"Hold  thy  superstitious  tongue,"  answered  Varney;  "and 
while  thou  talk' st  of  visiting,  answer  me,  thou  paltering  knave, 
how  came  Tressilian  to  be  at  the  postern  door?" 

"  Tressilian !"  answered  Foster,  "  what  know  I  of  Tressilian? 
I  never  heard  his  name." 

"Why,  villain,  it  was  the  very  Cornish  chough  to  whom 
old  Sir  Hugh  Robsart  destined  his  pretty  Amy,  and  hither  the 
hot-brained  fool  has  come  to  look  after  his  fair  runaway. 
There  must  be  some  order  taken  with  him,  for  he  thinks  he 
hath  wrong,  and  is  not  the  mean  hind  that  will  sit  down  with 
it.  Luckily  he  knows  nought  of  my  lord,  but  thinks  he  has 
only  me  to  deal  with.  But  how,  in  the  fiend's  name,  came  he 
hither?" 

"Why,  with  Mike  Lamboume,  an  you  must  know,"  an- 
swered Foster." 

"And  who  is  Mike  Lambourne?"  demanded  Varney.  "By 
Heaven !  thou  wert  best  set  up  a  bush  over  thy  door,  and  in- 


62  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

vite  every  stroller  who  passes  by  to  see  what  thou  shouldst 
keep  secret  even  from  the  sun  and  air." 

"  Ay !  ay !  this  is  a  court-like  requital  of  my  service  to  you, 
Master  Richard  Varney,"  replied  Foster.  "Didst  thou  not 
charge  me  to  seek  out  for  thee  a  fellow  who  had  a  good  sword 
and  an  unscrupulous  conscience?  and  was  I  not  busying  my- 
self to  find  a  fit  man — for,  thank  Heaven,  my  acquaintance 
lies  not  amongst  such  companions — when,  as  Heaven  would 
have  it,  this  tall  fellow,  who  is  in  all  his  qualities  the  very 
flashing  knave  thou  didst  wish,  came  hither  to  fix  acquaint- 
ance upon  me  in  the  plenitude  of  his  impudence,  and  I  ad- 
mitted his  claim,  thinking  to  do  you  a  pleasure;  and  now 
see  what  thanks  I  get  for  disgracing  myself  by  converse  with 
him!" 

"  And  did  he, "  said  ^Varney,  "  being  such  a  fellow  as  thy- 
self, only  lacking,  I  suppose,  thy  present  humour  of  hypocrisy, 
which  lies  as  thin  over  thy  hard  ruffianly  heart  as  gold  lacquer 
upon  rusty  iron — did  he,  I  say,  bring  the  saintly,  sighing 
Tressilian  in  his  train?" 

"They  came  together,  by  Heaven!"  said  Foster;  "and 
TressUian — to  speak  Heaven's  truth — obtained  a  moment's  in- 
terview with  our  pretty  moppet  while  I  was  talking  apart  with 
Lambourne." 

"  Improvident  villain !  we  are  both  undone, "  said  Varney. 
"  She  has  of  late  been  casting  many  a  backward  look  to  her 
father's  halls,  whenever  her  lordly  lover  leaves  her  alone. 
Should  this  preaching  fool  whistle  her  back  to  her  old  perch, 
we  were  but  lost  men." 

"No  fear  of  that,  my  master,"  replied  Anthony  Foster; 
"  she  is  in  no  mood  to  stoop  to  his  lure,  for  she  yelled  out  on 
seeing  him  as  if  an  adder  had  stung  her. " 

"  That  is  good.  Canst  thou  not  get  from  thy  daughter  an 
inkling  of  what  passed  between  them,  good  Foster?" 

"  I  tell  you  plain,  Master  Varney, "  said  Foster,  "  my  daugh- 
ter shall  not  enter  our  purposes  or  walk  in  our  paths.  They 
may  suit  me  well  enough,  who  know  how  to  repent  of  my  mis- 
doings, but  I  will  not  have  my  child's  soul  committed  to  peril 
either  for  your  pleasure  or  my  lord's.     I  may  walk  among 


KENILWORTH.  63 

snares  and  pitfalls  myself,  because  I  have  discretion,  but  I 
will  not  trust  the  poor  lamb  among  them." 

"  Why,  thou  suspicious  fool,  I  were  as  averse  as  thou  art 
that  thy  baby-faced  girl  should  enter  into  my  plans,  or  walk 
to  Hell  at  her  father's  elbow.  But  indirectly  thou  mightst 
gain  some  intelligence  of  her?" 

"And  so  I  did,  Master  Varney, "  answered  Foster;  "and 
she  said  her  lady  called  out  upon  the  sickness  of  her  father." 

"Good!"  replied  Varney;  "that  is  a  hint  worth  catching, 
and  I  will  work  upon  it.  But  the  country  must  be  rid  of  this 
Tressilian.  I  would  have  cumbered  no  man  about  the  matter, 
for  I  hate  him  like  strong  poison — his  presence  is  hemlock  to 
me — and  this  day  I  had  been  rid  of  him,  but  that  my  foot 
slipped,  when,  to  speak  truth,  had  not  thy  comrade  yonder 
come  to  my  aid,  and  held  his  hand,  I  should  have  known  by 
this  time  whether  you  and  I  have  been  treading  the  path  to 
Heaven  or  Hell." 

"And  you  can  speak  thus  of  such  a  risk!"  said  Foster. 
"  You  keep  a  stout  heart.  Master  Varney ;  for  me,  if  I  did  not 
hope  to  live  many  years,  and  to  have  time  for  the  great  work 
of  repentance,  I  would  not  go  forward  with  you." 

"  Oh !  thou  shalt  live  as  long  as  Methuselah, "  said  Varney, 
"  and  amass  as  much  wealth  as  Solomon ;  and  thou  shalt  re- 
pent so  devoutly  that  thy  repentance  shall  be  more  famous 
than  thy  villainy — and  that  is  a  bold  word.  But  for  all  this, 
Tressilian  must  be  looked  after.  Thy  rviffian  yonder  is  gone 
to  dog  him.     It  concerns  our  fortunes,  Anthony. " 

"  Ay — ay, "  said  Foster,  sullenly,  "  this  it  is  to  be  leagued 
with  one  who  knows  not  even  so  much  of  Scripture  as  that 
the  labourer  is  worthy  of  his  hire.  I  must,  as  usual,  take  all 
the  trouble  and  risk." 

"  Risk!  and  what  is  the  mighty  risk,  I  pray  you?"  answ^sred 
Varney.  "  This  fellow  will  come  prowling  again  about  your 
demesne  or  into  your  house,  and  if  you  take  him  for  a  house- 
breaker or  a  park-breaker,  is  it  not  most  natural  you  should 
welcome  him  with  cold  steel  or  hot  lead?  Even  a  mastiff  will 
pull  down  those  who  come  near  his  kennel;  and  ivho  shall 
blame  him?" 


64  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

"Ay,  I  have  a  mastiff's  work  and  a  mastiff's  wage  among 
you, "  said  Foster.  "  Here  have  you,  Master  Varney,  secured 
a  good  freehold  estate  out  of  this  old  superstitious  foundation  j 
and  I  have  but  a  poor  lease  of  this  mansion  under  you,  void- 
able at  your  honour's  pleasure." 

"  Ay,  and  thou  wouldst  fain  convert  thy  leasehold  into  a 
copyhold;  the  thing  may  chance  to  happen,  Anthony  Foster, 
if  thou  dost  good  service  for  it.  But  softly,  good  Anthony  j 
it  is  not  the  lending  a  room  or  two  of  this  old  house  for  keep- 
ing my  lord's  pretty  paroquet — nay,  it  is  not  the  shutting  thy 
doors  and  windows  to  keep  her  from  flying  off,  that  may  de- 
serve it.  Remember,  the  manor  and  tithes  are  rated  at  the 
clear  annual  value  of  seventy-nine  pounds  five  shillings  and 
fivepence  half -penny,  besides  the  value  of  the  wood.  Come — 
come,  thou  must  be  conscionable ;  great  and  secret  service  may 
deserve  both  this  and  a  better  thing.  And  now  let  thy  knave 
come  and  pluck  off  my  boots.  Get  us  some  dinner,  and  a  cup 
of  thy  best  wine.  I  must  visit  this  mavis,  brave  in  apparel, 
unruffled  in  aspect,  and  gay  in  temper." 

They  parted,  and  at  the  hour  of  noon,  which  was  then  that 
of  dinner,  they  again  met  at  their  meal,  Varney  gaily  di-essed 
like  a  courtier  of  the  time,  and  even  Anthony  Foster  improved 
in  appearance,  as  far  as  dress  could  amend  an  exterior  so  un- 
favourable. 

This  alteration  did  not  escape  Varney.  When  the  meal  was 
finished,  the  cloth  removed,  and  they  were  left  to  their  private 
discourse :  "  Thou  art  gay  as  a  goldfinch,  Anthony, "  said  Var- 
ney, looking  at  his  host;  "methinks,  thou  wilt  whistle  a  jig 
anon;  but  I  crave  your  pardon,  that  would  secure  yoiu*  ejection 
from  the  congregation  of  the  zealous  botchers,  the  pure-hearted 
weavers,  and  the  sanctified  bakers  of  Abingdon,  who  let  their 
Ovens  cool  while  their  brains  get  heated." 

"  To  answer  you  in  the  spirit.  Master  Varney, "  said  Foster, 
**  were — excuse  the  parable — to  fling  sacred  and  precious  things 
before  swine.  So  I  will  speak  to  thee  in  the  language  of  the 
world,  which  he  who  is  King  of  the  World  hath  taught  thee 
to  understand,  and  to  profit  by  in  no  common  measure." 

"  Say  what  thou  wilt,  honest  Tony, "  replied  Varney ;  "  for 


KENIL  WORTH.  65 

"be  it  according  to  thiae  absurd  faith,  or  according  to  thy 
most  villauious  practice,  it  cannot  choose  but  be  rare  matter 
to  qualify  this  cup  of  Alicant.  Thy  conversation  is  relishing 
and  poignant,  and  beats  caviare,  dried  neat's-tongue,  and  aU. 
other  provocatives  that  give  savour  to  good  liquor." 

"Well,  then,  tell  me,"  said  Anthony  Foster,  "is  not  our 
good  lord  and  master's  turn  better  served,  and  his  ante-cham- 
ber more  suitably  filled,  with  decent.  God-fearing  men,  who 
will  work  his  will  and  their  own  profit  quietly,  and  without 
worldly  scandal,  than  that  he  should  be  manned,  and  attended, 
and  followed  by  such  open  debauchers  and  ruffianly  swords- 
men as  Tidesly,  Killigrew,  this  fellow  Lambourne,  whom  you 
have  put  me  to  seek  out  for  you,  and  other  such,  who  bear  the 
gallows  in  their  face  and  murder  in  their  right  hand — who  are 
a  terror  to  peaceable  men,  and  a  scandal  to  my  lord's  service?" 

"Oh,  content  you,  good  Master  Anthony  Foster,"  answered 
Varney ;  "  he  that  flies  at  all  manner  of  game  must  keep  all 
kinds  of  hawks,  both  short  and  long-winged.  The  course  my 
lord  holds  is  no  easy  one,  and  he  must  stand  provided  at  all 
points  with  trusty  retainers  to  meet  each  sort  of  service.  He 
must  have  his  gay  courtier,  like  myself,  to  ruffle  it  in  the 
presence-chamber,  and  to  lay  hand  on  hilt  when  any  speaks  in 
disparagement  of  my  lord's  honour " 

"  Ay, "  said  Foster,  "  and  to  Avhisper  a  word  for  him  into  a 
fair  lady's  ear,  when  he  may  not  approach  her  himself." 

"  Then, "  said  Varney,  going  on  without  appearing  to  notice 
the  interruption,  "he  must  have  his  lawyers — deep,  subtle 
pioneers — to  draw  his  contracts,  his  pre-contracts,  and  his 
post-contracts,  and  to  find  the  way  to  make  the  most  of  grants 
of  church  lands,  and  commons,  and  licenses  for  monopoly. 
And  he  must  have  physicians  who  can  spice  a  cup  or  a  caudle. 
And  he  must  have  his  cabalists,  like  [Dee  and  Allan,  for  con- 
juring up  the  devU.  And  he  must  have  ruffling  swordsmen,  who 
would  fight  the  devil  when  he  is  raised  and  at  the  wildest. 
And  above  all,  without  prejudice  to  others,  he  must  have  such 
godly,  innocent.  Puritanic  souls  as  thou,  honest  Anthony,  who 
defy  Satan,  and  do  his  work  at  the  same  time." 

"You  would  not  say,  Master  Varney,"  said  Foster,  "that 
5 


^  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

onr  good  lord  and  master,  whom  I  hold  to  be  fulfilled  in  all 
nobleness,  would  use  such  base  and  sinful  means  to  rise  as 
thy  speech  points  at?" 

"Tush,  man,"  said  Varney,  "never  look  at  me  with  so  sad 
a  brow;  you  trap  me  not,  nor  am  I  in  your  power,  as  your 
weak  brain  may  imagine,  because  I  name  to  you  freely  the 
engines,  the  springs,  the  screws,  the  tackle,  and  braces,  by 
which  great  men  rise  in  stirring  times.  Sayest  thou  our  good 
lord  is  fulfilled  of  all  nobleness?  Amen,  and  so  be  it;  he  has 
the  more  need  to  have  those  about  him  who  are  unscrupulous 
in  his  service,  and  who,  because  they  know  that  his  fall  will 
overwhelm  and  crush  them,  must  wager  both  blood  and  brain, 
soul  and  body,  in  order  to  keep  him  aloft;  and  this  I  tell  thee, 
Ijecause  I  q^xe  not  who  knows  it." 

*'  You  speak  truth,  Master  Varney, "  said  Anthony  Foster : 
"he  that  is  head  of  a  party  is  but  a  boat  on  a  wave,  that  raises 
not  itself,  but  is  moved  upwards  by  the  billow  which  it  floats 
upon." 

"Thou  art  metaphorical,  honest  Anthony,"  replied  Var- 
ney :  "  that  velvet  doublet  hath  made  an  oracle  of  thee ;  we 
'fsill  have  thee  to  Oxford  to  take  the  degrees  in  the  arts. 
And,  in  the  mean  time,  hast  thou  arranged  all  the  matters 
wnich  were  sent  from  London,  and  put  the  western  chambers 
into  such  fashion  as  may  answer  my  lord's  humour?" 

"  They  may  serve  a  king  on  his  bridal-day,"  said  Anthony; 
"  and  jl  promise  you  that  Dame  Amy  sits  in  them  yonder  as 
proud  and  gay  as  if  she  were  the  Queen  of  Sheba." 

" 'Tis  the  better,  good  Anthony,"  answei-ed  Varney;  "we 
must  found  oiu'  future  fortunes  on  her  good  liking. " 

"We  build  on  sand  then,"  said  Anthony  Foster;  "for  sup- 
posing that  she  sails  away  to  court  in  all  her  lord's  dignity 
and  authority,  how  is  she  to  look  back  upon  me,  who  am  her 
jailor  as  it  were,  to  detain  her  against  her  will,  keeping  her 
a  caterpillar  on  an  old  wall,  when  she  woidd  fain  be  a  painted 
butterfly  iu  a  court  gardenV" 

"  Fear  not  her  displeasure,  man, "  saad  Varney.  "  I  will  show 
her  that  all  thou  hast  done  in  this  matter  was  good  service, 
toth  to  my  lord  and  her;  and  when  she  chips  the  egg-shell 


KENILWORTH.  67 

and  walks  alone,  slie  shall  o\m  ^ye  have  hatclied  Iter  great- 
ness.'"' 

"Look  to  yourself,  Master  Varney,"  said  Foster,  "you  may 
misreekon  foully  in  this  matter.  She  gave  you  but  a  frosty 
reception  this  morning,  and,  I  think,  looks  on  you,  as  well  as 
me,  with  an  evil  eye." 

"  You  mistake  her,  Foster — you  mistake  her  utterly.  To 
me  she  is  bound  by  all  the  ties  which  can  secure  her  to  one 
who  has  been  the  means  of  gratifying  both  her  love  and  aml)i- 
tion.  Who  was  it  that  took  the  obscui-e  Amy  Robsart,  the 
daughter  of  an  impoverished  and  dotard  knight,  the  destined 
bride  of  a  moonstruck,  moping  enthusiast  like  Edmund  Tres- 
silian,  from  her  lowly  fates,  and  held  out  to  her  in  prospect 
the  brightest  fortune  in  England,  or  perchance  in  Euro]je? 
Why,  man,  it  was  I — as  I  have  often  told  thee — that  found  op- 
portmiity  for  their  secret  meetings.  It  was  I  who  watched 
the  wood  while  he  beat  for  the  deer.  It  was  I  who,  to  this 
day,  am  blamed  by  her  family  as  the  companion  of  her  flight, 
and  were  I  in  their  neighbourhood,  would  be  fain  to  wear  a 
shii't  of  better  stuff  than  Holland  linen,  lest  my  ribs  should  be 
acquainted  with  Spanish  steel.  Who  carried  their  letters? 
I.  Who  amused  the  old  knight  and  Tressilian?  I.  Who 
planned  her  escape?  It  Avas  I.  It  was  I,  in  short,  Dick 
Varney,  who  puRed  this  pretty  little  daisy  from  its  lowly  nook, 
and  placed  it  in  the  proudest  bonnet  in  Britain, " 

'•'  Ay,  INIaster  Varney, "  said  Foster,  "  but  it  may  be  she 
thinks  that,  had  the  matter  remained  with  you,  the  flower  had 
been  stuck  so  slightly  into  the  cap  that  the)  first  breath  of  a 
changeable  breeze  of  passion  had  blown  the  poor  daisy  to  the 
common." 

"She  should  consider,"  said  Vamey,  smiling,  "the  true 
faith  I  owed  my  lord  and  master  prevented  me  at  first  from 
counselling  marriage ;  and  yet  I  did  counsel  marriage  when  I 
saw  she  woidd  not  be  satisfied  without  the — the  sacrament,  or 
the  ceremony — ^which  callest  thou  it,  Anthony?" 

"Still  she  has  you  at  feud  on  another  score,"  said  Foster; 
"and  I  tell  it  you  that  you  may  look  to  yourself  in  time.  She 
would  riot  hide  her  splendour  in  this  dark  lantern  of  an  old 


68  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

monastic  house,    but  would  fain  shine  a  countess    amongst 
countesses. " 

"Very  natural,  very  right,"  answered  Varney;  "  Out  what 
have  I  to  do  with  that?  She  may  shine  through  horn  or 
through  crystal  at  my  lord's  pleasure,  I  have  nought  to  say 
against  it." 

"  She  deems  that  you  have  an  oar  upon  that  side  of  the  boat, 
Master  Varney,"  replied  Foster,  "and  that  you  can  pull  it  or 
no,  at  your  good  pleasure.  In  a  word,  she  ascribes  the 
secrecy  and  obscurity  in  which  she  is  kept  to  your  secret  coun- 
sel to  my  lord,  and  to  my  strict  agency ;  and  so  she  loves  us 
both  as  a  sentenced  man  loves  his  judge  and  his  jailor." 

"  She  must  love  us  better  ere  she  leave  this  place,  Anthony, " 
answered  Varney.  "  If  I  have  counselled  for  weighty  reasons 
that  she  remain  here  for  a  season,  I  can  also  advise  her  being 
brought  forth  in  the  full  blow  of  her  dignity.  But  I  were 
mad  to  do  so,  holding  so  near  a  place  to  my  lord's  person, 
were  she  mine  enemy.  Bear  this  truth  in  upon  her  as  occa- 
sion offers,  Anthony,  and  let  me  alone  for  extolling  you  in  her 
ear,  and  exalting  you  in  her  opinion.  Ka  me,  ka  thee — it  is 
a  proverb  all  over  the  world.  The  lady  must  know  her 
friends,  and  be  made  to  judge  of  the  power  they  have  of  being 
her  enemies ;  meanwhile,  watch  her  strictly,  but  with  all  the 
outward  observance  that  thy  rough  nature  will  permit.  'Tis 
an  excellent  thing  that  sullen  look  and  bull-dog  humour  of 
thine ;  thou  shouldst  thank  God  for  it,  and  so  should  my  lord, 
for  when  there  is  aught  harsh  or  hard-natured  to  be  done,  thou 
dost  it  as  if  it  flowed  from  thine  own  natural  doggedness,  and 
not  from  orders,  and  so  my  lord  escapes  the  scandal.  But, 
hark — some  one  knocks  at  the  gate.  Look  out  at  the  window; 
let  no  one  enter :  this  were  an  ill  night  to  be  interrupted. " 

"  It  is  he  whom  we  spoke  of  before  dinner, "  said  Foster,  as 
he  looked  through  the  casement — "it  is  Michael  Lambourne." 

"Oh,  admit  him,  by  all  means,"  said  the  courtier;  "he 
comes  to  give  some  account  of  his  guest :  it  imports  us  much 
to  know  the  movements  of  Edmund  Tressilian.  Admit  him, 
I  say,  but  bring  him  not  hither.  I  will  come  to  you  presently 
in  the  abbot's  library." 


KENILWORTH.  69 

Foster  left  the  room,  and  the  courtier,  who  remained  be- 
hind, paced  the  parlour  more  than  once  in  deep  thought,  his 
arms  folded  on  his  bosom,  until  at  length  he  gave  vent  to  his 
meditations  in  broken  words,  which  we  have  somewhat  en- 
larged and  connected,  that  his  soliloquy  may  be  intelligible  to 
the  reader. 

'"Tis  true,"  he  said,  suddenly  stopping,  and  resting  his 
right  hand  on  the  table  at  which  they  had  been  sitting,  "  this 
base  churl  hath  fathomed  the  very  depth  of  my  fear,  and  I 
have  been  unable  to  disguise  it  from  him.  She  loves  me  not ; 
I  would  it  were  as  true  that  I  loved  not  her !  Idiot  that  I 
was,  to  move  her  in  my  own  behalf,  when  wisdom  bade  me 
be  a  true  broker  to  my  lord!  And  this  fatal  error  has  placed 
me  more  at  her  discretion  than  a  wise  man  would  willingly  be 
at  that  of  the  best  piece  of  painted  Eve's  flesh  of  them  all. 
Since  the  hour  that  my  policy  made  so  perilous  a  slip,  I  can- 
not look  at  her  without  fear,  and  hate,  and  fondness  so 
strangely  mingled  that  I  know  not  whether,  were  it  at  my 
choice,  I  would  rather  possess  or  ruin  her.  But  she  must  not 
leave  this  retreat  until  I  am  assured  on  what  terms  we  are  to 
stand.  My  lord's  interest — and  so  far  it  is  mine  own,  for  if 
he  sinks  I  fall  in  his  train — demands  concealment  of  this  ob- 
scure marriage ;  and,  besides,  I  will  not  lend  her  my  arm  to 
climb  to  her  chair  of  state,  that  she  may  set  her  foot  on  my 
neck  when  she  is  fairly  seated.  I  must  work  an  interest  in 
her,  either  through  love  or  through  fear ;  and  who  knows  but 
I  may  yet  reap  the  sweetest  and  best  revenge  for  her  former 
scorn? — that  were  indeed  a  masterpiece  of  court-like  art!  Let 
me  but  once  be  her  counsel-keeper ;  let  her  confide  to  me  a 
secret,  did  it  but  concern  the  robbery  of  a  linnet's  nest,  and, 
fair  countess,  thou  art  mine  own!"  He  again  paced  the  room 
in  silence,  stopped,  filled  and  drank  a  cup  of  wine,  as  if  to 
compose  the  agitation  of  his  mind ;  and  muttering :  "  Now  for 
a  close  heart  and  an  open  and  unruffled  brow,"  he  left  the 
apartment. 


70  WAVERLEY  NOYELS. 


CHAPTER   VI. 

The  dews  of  summer  night  did  fall, 

The  moon,  sweet  regent  of  tlie  sky, 
Silver' d  the  walls  of  Cum  nor  Hall, 

And  many  an  oak  that  grew  thereby.' 

MiCKLE. 

Four  apartments,  which  occupied  the  western  side  of  the 
old  quadrangle  at  Cumnor  Place,  had  been  fitted  up  with  ex- 
traordinary splendour.  This  had  been  the  work  of  several 
days  prior  to  that  on  which  our  story  opened.  Workmen  sent 
from  London,  and  not  permitted  to  leave  the  premises  until 
the  work  was  finished,  had  converted  the  a,partments  in  that 
side  of  the  building  from  the  dilapidated  appearance  of  a  dis- 
solved monastic  house  into  the  semblance  of  a  royal  palace. 
A  mystery  was  observed  in  all  these  arrangements :  the  work- 
men came  thither  and  returned  by  night,  and  all  measures 
were  taken  to  prevent  the  prying  curiosit}^  of  the  villagers 
from  observing  or  speculating  upon  the  changes  which  were 
taking  place  in  the  mansion  of  their  once  indigent,  but  now 
wealthy,  neighbour  Anthony  Foster.  Accordingly,  the  secrecy 
desired  was  so  far  preserved  that  nothing  got  abroad  but  vague 
and  uncertain  reports,  which  were  received  and  repeated,  but 
without  much  credit  being  attached  to  them. 

On  the  evening  of  which  we  treat,  the  new  and  highly  dec- 
orated suite  of  rooms  were  for  the  first  time  illuminated,  and 
that  with  a  brilliancy  which  might  have  been  visible  half  a 
dozen  miles  off,  had  not  oaken  shutters,  carefull}^  secured  with 
bolt  and  padlock,  and  mantled  with  xong  curtains  of  silk  and 
of  velvet,  deeply  fringed  with  gold,  prevented  the  slightest 
gleam  of  radiance  from  being  seen  without. 

The  principal  apartments,  as  we  have  seen,  were  four  in 
number,  each  opening  into  the  other.  Access  was  given  to 
them  by  a  large  scale  staircase,  as  they  were  then  called,  of 
unusual  length  and  height,  which  had  its  landing-place  at  the 

•  This  verse  is  the  commencement  of  the  ballad  already  quoted  as  what 
suggested  the  novel. 


KENILWORTH.  Tl 

door  of  an  ante-chamber,  shaped  somewhat  like  a  gallery. 
This  apartment  the  abbot  had  used  as  an  occasional  council- 
room,  but  it  was  now  beautifully  wainscoted  with  dark  foreign 
wood  of  a  brown  colour,  and  bearing  a  high  polish,  said  to 
have  been  brought  from  the  Western  Indies,  and  to  have  been 
wrought  in  London  with  infinite  difficulty,  and  much  damage 
to  the  tools  of  the  workmen.  The  dark  colour  of  this  finish- 
ing was  relieved  by  the  number  of  lights  in  silver  sconces 
which  hung  agauist  the  walls,  and  by  six  large  and  richly 
fi-amed  pictures  by  the  first  masters  of  the  age.  A  massy 
oaken  table,  placed  at  the  lower  end  of  the  apartment,  served 
to  accommodate  such  as  chose  to  play  at  the  then  fashionable 
game  of  shovel-boai-d ;  and  there  was  at  the  other  end  an  ele- 
vated gallery  for  the  musicians  or  minstrels,  who  might  be 
summoned  to  increase  the  festivity  of  the  evening. 

From  this  ante-chamber  opened  a  banquetiug-room  of  mod- 
erate size,  but  brilliant  enough  to  dazzle  the  eyes  of  the  spec 
tator  with  the  richness  of  its  furniture.  The  walls,  lately  so 
bare  and  ghastly,  were  now  clothed  with  hangings  of  sky- 
blue  velvet  and  silver ;  the  chairs  were  of  ebony,  richly  carved, 
with  cushions  corresponding  to  the  haugmgs ;  and  the  place  of 
the  silver  sconces  which  enlightened  the  ante-chamber  was 
supplied  by  a  huge  chandelier  of  the  same  precious  metal. 
The  floor  was  covered  with  a  Spanish  foot-cloth,  or  carpet,  on 
which  flowers  and  fruits  were  represented  in  such  glowing  and 
natural  colours  that  you  hesitated  to  place  the  foot  on  such 
exquisite  workmanship.  The  table,  of  old  English  oak,  stood 
ready  covered  with  the  finest  linen,  and  a  large  portable  court- 
cupboard  was  placed  with  the  leaves  of  its  embossed  folding- 
doors  displayed,  showing  the  shelves  within,  decorated  with 
a  full  display  of  plate  and  jwrcelain.  In  the  midst  of  the 
table  stood  a  salt-cellar  of  Italian  workmanship — a  beautiful 
and  splendid  piece  of  plate  about  two  feet  high,  moulded  into 
a  representation  of  the  giant  Briai-eus,  whose  hundred  hands 
of  silver  presented  to  the  guest  various  sorts  of  spices,  or  con- 
diments, to  season  then-  food  withal. 

The  thii'd  apartment  was  called  the  withdi-awing-room.  It 
was  hung  with  the  finest  tapestry,  representing  the  fall  of 


72  WAVERLET  NOVELS. 

Phaeton ;  for  the  looms  of  Flanders  were  now  much  occupied 
ou  classical  subjects.  The  principal  seat  of  this  apartment 
was  a  chair  of  state,  raised  a  step  or  two  from  the  floor,  and 
large  enough  to  contain  two  persons.  It  was  surmounted  by 
a  canopy,  which,  as  well  as  the  cushions,  side-curtains,  and 
the  very  foot-cloth,  was  composed  of  crimson  velvet,  embroid- 
ered with  seed-pearl.  On  the  top  of  the  canopy  were  two 
coronets,  resembling  those  of  an  earl  and  countess.  Stools 
covered  with  velvet,  and  some  cushions  disposed  in  the  Moor- 
ish fashion,  and  ornamented  with  Arabesque  needlework,  sup- 
plied the  place  of  chairs  in  this  apartment,  which  contained 
musical  instruments,  embroidery  frames,  and  other  articles 
for  ladies'  pastime.  Besides  lesser  lights,  the  withdrawing- 
room  was  illuminated  by  four  tall  torches  of  virgin  wax,  each 
of  which  was  placed  in  the  grasp  of  a  statue,  representing  an 
armed  Moor,  who  held  in  his  left  arm  a  round  buckler  of  sil- 
ver, highly  polished,  interposed  betwixt  his  breast  and  the 
light,  which  was  thus  brilliantly  reflected  as  from  a  crystal 
mirror. 

The  sleeping-chamber  belonging  to  this  splendid  suite  of 
apartments  was  decorated  in  a  taste  less  showy,  but  not  less 
rich,  than  had  been  displayed  in  the  others.  Two  silver 
lamps,  fed  with  perfumed  oil,  diffused  at  once  a  delicious 
odour  and  a  trembling  twilight-seeming  shimmer  through  the 
quiet  apartment.  It  was  carpeted  so  thick  that  the  heaviest 
step  could  not  have  been  heard ;  and  the  bed,  richly  heaped 
with  down,  was  spread  with  an  ample  coverlet  of  silk  and  gold, 
from  under  which  peeped  forth  cambric  sheets,  and  blankets 
as  white  as  the  lambs  which  yielded  the  fleece  that  made  them. 
The  curtains  were  of  blue  velvet,  lined  with  crimson  silk, 
deeply  festooned  with  gold,  and  embroidered  with  the  loves 
of  Cupid  and  Psyche.  On  the  toilet  was  a  beautiful  Venetian 
mirror,  in  a  frame  of  silvor  filigree,  and  beside  it  stood  a  gold 
posset-dish  to  contain  the  night-draught.  A  pair  of  pistols 
and  a  dagger,  mounted  with  gold,  were  displayed  near  the 
head  of  the  bed,  being  the  arms  for  the  night,  which  were 
presented  to  honoured  guests,  rather,  it  may  be  supposed,  ra 
the  way  of  ceremony  than  from  any  apprehension  of  danger. 


KENILWORTH.  73 

We  must  not  omit  to  mention,  -wliat  was  more  to  the  credit  of 
tlie  manners  of  the  time,  that  in  a  small  recess,  illuminated  by 
a  taper,  were  disposed  two  hassocks  of  velvet  and  gold,  corre- 
sponding with  the  bed  furniture,  before  a  desk  of  carved  ebony. 
This  recess  had  formerly  been  the  private  oratory  of  the  abbot, 
but  the  crucifix  was  removed,  and  instead  there  were  placed 
on  the  desk  two  Books  of  Common  Prayer,  richly  bound  and 
embossed  with  silver.  AVith  this  enviable  sleeping-apartment, 
which  was  so  far  removed  from  every  sound,  save  that  of  the 
wind  sighing  among  the  oaks  of  the  park,  that  Morpheus  might 
have  coveted  it  for  his  own  proper  repose,  corresponded  two 
wardrobes,  or  dressing-rooms,  as  they  are  now  termed,  suit- 
ably furnished,  and  in  a  style  of  the  same  magnificence  which 
we  have  already  described.  It  ought  to  be  added,  that  a  part 
of  the  building  in  the  adjoining  wing  was  occupied  by  the 
kitchen  and  its  offices,  and  served  to  accommodate  the  personal 
attendants  of  the  great  and  wealthy  nobleman  for  whose  use 
these  magnificent  preparations  had  been  made. 

The  divinity  for  whose  sake  this  temple  had  been  decorated 
was  well  worthy  the  cost  and  pains  which  had  been  bestowed. 
She  was  seated  in  the  withdrawing-room  which  we  have  de- 
scribed, surveying  with  the  pleased  eye  of  natural  and  in- 
nocent vanity  the  splendour  which  had  been  so  suddeidy 
created,  as  it  were,  in  her  honour.  For,  as  her  own  residence 
at  Cumnor  Place  formed  the  cause  of  the  mystery  observed  in 
all  the  preparations  for  opening  these  apartments,  it  was 
sedulously  arranged  that,  until  she  took  possession  of  them, 
she  should  have  no  means  of  knowing  what  was  going  forward 
in  that  part  of  the  ancient  building,  or  of  exposing  herself  to 
be  SoCn  by  the  workmen  engaged  in  the  decorations.  She  had 
been,  therefore,  introduced  on  that  evening  to  a  part  of  the 
mansion  which  she  had  never  yet  seen,  so  d'fferent  from  all 
the  rest  that  it  appeared,  in  comparison,  like  an  enchanted 
palace.  And  when  she  first  examined  and  occupied  these 
splendid  rooms,  it  was  with  the  wild  and  unrestrained  joy  of 
a  rustic  beauty,  who  finds  herself  suddenly  invested  with  a 
splendour  which  her  most  extravagant  wishes  had  never  imag- 
ined, and  at  the  same  time  with  the  keen  feeling  of  an  affec- 


74  ■  WAYERLEY  NOVELS. 

tionate  heart,  wliicli  knows  that)  all  the  enchantment  that  sur- 
rounds her  is  the  work  of  the  great  magician  Love. 

The  Countess  Amy,  thei-efore — for  to  that  rank  she  "was 
exalted  by  her  private  but  solemn  union  with  England's 
proudest  earl — had  for  a  time  flitted  hastily  f i-om  room  to  room,, 
admiring  each  new  proof  of  her  lover  and  her  bridegroom's 
taste,  and  feeling  that  adniii-ation  enhanced,  as  she  recollected 
that  all  she  gazed  upon  was  one  continued  proof  of  his  ardent 
and  devoted  affection.  "  How  beautiful  are  these  hangings ! 
How  natural  these  paintings,  which  seem  to  contend  with  life  I 
How  richly  wrought  is  that  plate,  which  looks  as  if  all  thS' 
galleons  of  Spain  had  been  intercepted  on  the  broad  seas  to 
furnish  it  forth !  And  oh,  Janet  T'  she  exclaimed  repeatedly 
to  the  daughter  of  Anthony  Foster,  the  close  attendant,  who, 
with  equal  curiosity,  but  somewhat  less  ecstatic  joy,  followed 
on.  her  mistress's  footsteps — "  Oh,  Janet  1  how  much  more  de- 
lightful to  think  that  all  these  fair  things  have  been  assembled 
by  his  love,  for  the  love  of  me !  and  that  this  evening — ^this 
very  evening,  which  grows  darker  every  instant,  I  shall  thank 
him  more  for  the  love  that  has  created  such  an  unimaginable 
paradise  than  for  all  tlie  wonders  it  contains." 

"  The  Lord  is  to  be  thanked  first,"  said  the  pretty  Puritaja, 
"  who  gave  thee,  lady,  the  kind  and  courteous  husband  whose 
love  has  done  so  much  for  thee.  I,  too,  have  done  my  ppor 
share ;  but  if  you  thus  run  wildly  from  room  to  room,  the  toil 
of  my  crisping  and  my  curling  pins  will  vanish  like  the  fret- 
work on  the  window  when  the  sun  is  high.** 

"Thou  sayest  true,  Janet,"  said  the  young  and  beautiful 
countess,  stopping  suddenly  from  her  tripping  race  of  enrap- 
tured delight,  and  looking  at  herself  from  head  to  foot  in  a 
large  mirror,  such  as  she  had  never  before  seen,  and  which, 
indeed,  had  few  to  match  it  even  in  the  Queen's  palace — "  thoa 
sayest  true,  Janet!"  she  answered,  as  she  saw,  with  pardoa- 
able  self-applause,  the  noble  mirror  reflect  such  charms  as 
were  seldom  presented  to  its  fair  and  polished  surface;  "I 
have  more  of  the  milk-maid  than  the  coimtess,  with  these 
cheeks  flushed  with  haste,  and  all  these  brown  curls,  which 
you  laboured  to  bring  to  order,  straying  as  wild  as  the  tendril* 


KENILWORTH.  75 

of  aa  unpriined  vine.  My  falling  ruff  is  chafed  too,  and 
shows  the  neck  and  bosom  more  than  is  modest  and  seemly. 
Come,  Janet,  we  will  practise  state — we  will  go  to  the  with- 
drawing-room,  my  good  girl,  and  thou  shalt  put  these  rebel 
locks  in  order,  and  imprison  Avithin  lace  and  cambric  the 
bosom  that  beats  too  high." 

They  went  to  the  withdrawing-apartment  accordingly,  where 
the  countess  playfully  stretched  herself  upon  the  pile  of  Moor- 
ish cushions,  half-sitting,  half -reclining,  half -wrapt  in  her  own 
thoughts,  half -listening  to  the  prattle  of  her  attendant. 

While  she  was  in  this  attitude,  and  with  a  corresponding 
expression  betwixt  listlessness  and  expectation  on  her  fine  and 
intelligent  features,  you  might  have  searched  sea  and  land 
without  finding  anythiug  half  so  expressive  or  half  so  lovely. 
The  wreath  of  brilliants  which  mixed  with  her  dai'k  brown 
hair  did  not  match  in  lustre  the  hazel  eye  which  a  light  brown 
eyebrow,  pencilled  with  exquisite  delicacy,  and  long  eyelashes 
of  the  same  colour,  relieved  and  shaded.  The  exercise  she 
had  just  taken,  her  excited  expectation  and  gratified  vanity, 
spread  a  glow  over  her  fine  features,  which  had  been  some- 
times censured  (as  beauty  as  well  as  art  has  her  minute  critics) 
for  being  rather  too  pale.  The  milk-white  pearls  of  the  neck- 
lace which  she  wore,  the  same  which  she  had  just  received  as 
a  true-love  token  from  her  husband,  were  excelled  in  pui'ity 
by  her  teeth,  and  by  the  colour  of  her  skin,  saving  where  the 
blush  of  pleasure  and  self-satisfaction  had  somewhat  stained 
the  neck  with  a  shade  of  light  crimson.  ''  Now,  have  done 
with  these  busy  fingers,  Janet,"  she  said  to  her  handmaiden, 
who  was  still  ofliciously  employed  ui  bringing  her  hair  and 
her  dress  into  order — "have  done,  I  say;  I  must  see  your 
father  ere  my  lord  arrives,  and  also  Master  Richard  Varney, 
whom  my  lord  has  highly  in  his  esteem — but  I  could  tell  that 
of  him  would  lose  him  favoui-." 

"Oh,  do  not  do  so,  good  my  lady!"  replied  Janet:  "leave 
him  to  God,  who  punishes  the  wicked  in  His  own  time;  but 
do  not  you  cross  Vamey's  path,  for  so  thoroughly  hath  he 
my  lord's  ear,  that  few  have  thriven  who  have  thwarted  his 
courses." 


76  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

"  And  from  whom  had  you  this,  my  most  righteous  Janet?" 
said  the  countess ;  "  or  why  should  I  keep  terms  with  so  meaa 
a  gentleman  as  Yarney,  being,  as  T  am,  wife  to  his  master 
and  patron?" 

"  Nay,  madam, "  replied  Janet  Foster,  "  your  ladyship  knows 
better  than  I.  But  I  have  heard  my  father  say  he  would 
rather  cross  a  hungry  wolf  than  thwart  Richard  Varney  in  his 
projects.  And  he  has  often  charged  me  to  have  a  care  of 
holding  commerce  with  him." 

"Thy  father  said  well,  girl,  for  thee,"  replied  the  lady, 
"  and  I  dare  swear  meant  well.  It  is  a  pity,  though,  his  face 
and  manner  do  little  match  his  true  purpose,  for  I  think  his 
purpose  may  be  true." 

"  Doubt  it  not,  my  lady, "  answered  Janet — "  doubt  not  that 
my  father  purposes  well,  though  he  is  a  plain  man,  and  his 
blunt  looks  may  belie  his  heart." 

"  I  will  not  doubt  it,  girl,  were  it  only  for  thy  sake ;  and 
yet  he  has  one  of  those  faces  which  men  tremble  when  they 
look  on.  I  think  even  thy  mother,  Janet — nay,  have  done 
with  that  poking-iron — could  hardly  look  upon  him  without 
quaking. " 

"If  it  were  so,  madam,"  answered  Janet  Foster,  "my 
mother  had  those  who  could  keep  her  in  honourable  counte- 
nance. Why,  even  you,  my  lady,  both  trembled  and  blushed 
when  Varney  brought  the  letter  from  my  lord." 

"  You  are  bold,  damsel, "  said  the  countess,  rising  from  the 
cushions  on  which  she  sate  haK-reclined  in  the  arms  of  her 
attendant.  "  Know,  that  there  are  causes  of  trembling  which 
have  nothing  to  do  with  fear.  But,  Janet, "  she  added,  imme- 
diately relapsing  into  the  good-natured  and  familiar  tone  which 
was  natural  to  her,  "  believe  me,  I  will  do  what  credit  I  can 
to  your  father,  and  the  rather  that  you,  sweetheart,  are  his 
child.  Alas !  alas !"  she  added,  a  sudden  sadness  passing  over 
her  fine  features  and  her  eyes  filling  with  tears,  "  I  ought  the 
rather  to  hold  sympathy  with  thy  kind  heart  that  my  own 
poor  father  is  uncertain  of  my  fate,  and  they  say  lies  sick  and 
sorrowful  for  my  worthless  sake !  But  I  will  soon  cheer  him ; 
the  news  of  my  happiness  and  advancement  will  make  him 


KENILWORTH.  77 

young  again.  And  that  I  may  cheer  him  the  sooner" — she 
wiped  her  eyes  as  she  spoke — "  I  must  be  cheerful  myself. 
My  lord  must  not  find  me  insensible  to  his  kiadness,  or  sor- 
rowful when  he  snatches  a  visit  to  his  recluse,  after  so  long  an 
absence.  Be  merry,  Janet :  the  night  wears  on,  and  my  lord 
must  soon  arrive.  Call  thy  father  hither,  and  call  Varney 
also.  I  cherish  resentment  against  neither ;  and  though  I  may 
have  some  room  to  be  displeased  with  both,  it  shall  be  their 
own  fault  if  ever  a  complaint  against  them  reaches  the  earl 
through  my  means.     Call  them  hither,  Janet." 

Janet  Foster  obeyed  her  mistress ;  and  in  a  few  miautes  after, 
Varney  entered  the  withdrawing-room  with  the  graceful  ease 
and  unclouded  front  of  an  accomplished  courtier,  skilled,  un- 
der the  veil  of  external  politeness,  to  disguise  his  own  feelings 
and  to  penetrate  those  of  others.  Anthony  Foster  plodded 
into  the  apartment  after  him,  his  natural  gloomy  vulgarity 
of  aspect  seeming  to  become  yet  more  remarkable  from  his 
clumsy  attempt  to  conceal  the  mixture  of  anxiety  and  dislike 
with  which  he  looked  on  her  over  whom  he  had  hitherto 
exercised  so  severe  a  control,  now  so  splendidly  attired,  and 
decked  with  so  many  pledges  of  the  interest  which  she  pos- 
sessed in  her  husband's  affections.  The  blundering  revereuce 
which  he  made,  rather  at  than  to  the  countess,  had  confession 
in  it.  It  was  like  the  reverence  which  the  criminal  makes 
to  the  judge,  when  he  at  once  owns  his  guilt  and  implores 
mercy,  which  is  at  the  same  time  an  impudent  and  embar- 
rassed attempt  at  defence  or  extenuation,  a  confession  of  a 
fault,  and  an  entreaty  for  lenity. 

Varney,  who,  in  right  of  his  gentle  blood,  had  pressed  into 
the  room  before  Anthony  Foster,  knew  better  what  to  say  than 
he,  and  said  it  with  more  assurance  and  a  better  grace. 

The  countess  greeted  him  indeed  with  an  appearance  of 
cordiality,  which  seemed  a  complete  amnesty  for  whatever 
she  might  have  to  complain  of.  She  rose  from  her  seat  and 
advanced  two  steps  towards  him,  holding  forth  her  hand 
as  she  said :  "  Master  Kichard  Varney,  you  brought  me  this 
morning  such  welcome  tidings  that  I  fear  surprise  and 
joy  made  me  neglect  my  lord  and  husband's  charge  to  receive 


78  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

you  with  distinctiou.  We  offer  you  our  haud,  sii,  La  recon- 
siliation," 

'•'  I  am  unworthy  to  touch  it,"  said  Yarney,  dropping  on  one 
knee,  "  save  as  a  subject  honours  that  of  a  prince." 

He  touched  with  his  lips  those  fair  and  sleuder  fingers,  so 
richly  loaded  with  rings  and  jewels  j  then  rising  with  graceful 
gallantry,  was  about  to  hand  her  to  the  chair  of  state,  when  she 
said:  "No,  good  Master  Eichard  Varney,  I  take  not  my  place 
there  until  my  lord  himself  conducts  me.  I  am  for  the  pres- 
ent but  a  disguised  countess,  and  will  not  take  dignity  on  me 
until  authorised  by  him  whom  I  derive  it  from. " 

"I  trust,  my  lady,"  said  Foster,  "that  in  doing  the  com- 
mands of  my  lord  your  husband,  in  your  restraint  and  so 
forth,  I  have  not  incurred  your  displeasure,  seeing  that  I  did 
but  my  duty  towards  your  lord  and  mine ;  for  Heaven,  as  Holy 
Writ  saith,  hath  given  the  husband  supremacy  and  dominion 
over  the  wife — I  think  it  runs  so,  or  something  like  it." 

"I  receive  at  this  moment  so  pleasant  a  surprise,  Master 
Foster, "  answered  the  countess,  "  that  I  cannot  but  excuse  the 
rigid  fidelity  which  secluded  me  from  these  apartments  until 
4hey  had  assumed  an  appearance  so  new  and  so  splendid." 

"Ay,  lady,"  said  Foster,  "it  hath  cost  many  a  fair  crown; 
iuid  that  more  need  not  be  wasted  than  is  absolutely  necessary, 
I  leave  you  till  my  lord's  ai-rival  with  good  Master  Eichard 
Yarney,  who,  as  I  think,  hath  somewhat  to  say  to  you  from 
your  most  noble  lord  and  husband.  Janet,  follow  me,  to  see 
that  all  be  in  order, " 

"No,  Master  Foster,"  said  the  countess,  "we  wiH  your 
daughter  remains  here  in  our  apartment;  out  of  ear-shot, 
however,  in  case  Yarney  hath  aught  to  say  to  me  from  my 
lord." 

Foster  made  his  clumsy  reverence  and  departed,  with  aa 
aspect  that  seemed  to  grudge  the  profuse  expense  which  had 
been  wasted  upon  changing  his  house  from  a  bare  and  ruinous 
grange  to  an  Asiatic  palace.  When  he  was  gone,  his  daughter 
took  her  embroidery  frame  and  went  to  establish  herself  at  the 
bottom  of  the  apartment,  while  Eichard  Yarney,  with  a  pro- 
foundly humble  courtesy,  took  the  lowest  stool  he  could  find. 


KENILWORTH.  79 

aad  placing  it  by  the  side  of  the  pile  of  cushions  on  which  the 
countess  had  now  again  seated  herself,  sat  with  his  eyes  for  a 
time  fixed  on  the  ground,  and  in  profound  silence. 

"I  thought,  Master  Varney,"  said  the  countess,  when  sha 
saw  he  was  not  likely  to  open  the  conversation,  "  that  you  had 
something  to  communicate  from  my  lord  and  husband ;  so  aJb 
least  I  understood  Master  Foster,  and  therefore  I  removed  my 
waiting-maid.  If  I  am  mistaken,  I  will  recall  her  to  my  side-, 
for  her  needle  is  not  so  absolutely  pei-fect  in  tent  and  cross- 
stitch  but  what  my  superintendence  is  advisable." 

"  Lady, "  said  Varney,  "  Foster  was  partly  mistaken  in  mj 
purpose.  It  was  not  from  but  of  your  noble  husband,  and  my 
approved  and  most  noble  patron,  that  I  am  led,,  and  indeed 
bound,  to  speak." 

"The  theme  is  most  welcome,  sir,"  said  the  countess, 
"whether  it  be  of  or  from  my  noble  husband.  But  be  brie^ 
for  I  expect  his  hasty  approach." 

"Briefly  then,  madam,"  replied  Varney,  "and  boldly,  for 
my  argument  requires  both  haste  and  courage — ^you  have  this 
day  seen  Tressilian?" 

"  I  have,  sir,  and  what  of  that  ?"  answered  the  lady,  some- 
what sharply. 

"Nothing  that  concerns  me,  lady,"  Varney  replied  with, 
hamility.  "  But,  think  you,  honoured  madam,  that  your  lord 
win  hear  it  with  equal  equanimity?" 

"  And  wherefore  should  he  not?  To  me  alone  was  Trea- 
silian's  visit  embai-rassing  and  painful,  for  he  brought  news 
of  my  good  father's  illness." 

"  Of  your  father's  illness,  madam  I"  answered  Varney.  "  It 
must  have  been  sudden  then — very  sudden  j  for  the  messenger 
whom  I  despatched,  at  my  lord's  mstance,  found  the  good 
knight  on  the  hunting-field,  cheering  his  beagles  with  his 
wonted  jovial  field-ciy.  I  trust  Tressilian  has  but  forged  this 
news.  He  hath  his  reasons,  madam,  as  you  well  know,  for 
disquieting  your  present  happiness." 

"You  do  him  injustice,  Master  Varney,"  replied  the  coun- 
tess, with  animation — "you  do  him  much  injustice.  He  is 
the  freest,  the  most  open,  the  most  gentle  heart  that  breathea. 


so  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

My  honourable  lord  ever  excepted,  I  know  not  one  to  whom 
falsehood  is  more  odious  than  to  Tressilian," 

"  I  crave  your  pardon,  madam, "  said  Varney,  "  I  meant  the 
gentleman  no  injustice — I  knew  not  how  nearly  his  cause 
affected  you.  A  man  may,  in  some  circumstances,  disguise 
the  truth  for  fair  and  honest  purpose ;  for  were  it  to  be  al- 
ways spoken,  and  upon  all  occasions,  this  were  no  world  to 
live  in." 

"  You  have  a  courtly  conscience.  Master  Varney, "  said  the 
countess,  "  and  your  veracity  will  not,  I  think,  interrupt  your 
preferment  in  the  world,  such  as  it  is.  But  touching  Tressil- 
ian — I  must  do  him  justice,  for  I  have  done  him  wrong,  as 
none  knows  better  than  thou:  Tressilian's  conscience  is  of 
other  mould.  The  world  thou  speakest  of  has  not  that  which 
could  bribe  him  from  the  way  of  truth  and  honour ;  and  for 
living  in  it  with  a  soiled  fame,  the  ermine  would  as  soon  seek 
to  lodge  in  the  den  of  the  foul  polecat.  For  this  my  father 
loved  him.  For  this  I  would  have  loved  him — if  I  could. 
And  yet  in  this  case  he  had  what  seemed  to  him,  unknowing 
alike  of  my  marriage  and  to  whom  I  was  united,  such  power- 
ful reasons  to  withdraw  me  from  this  place,  that  I  well  trust 
lie  exaggerated  much  of  my  father's  indisposition,  and  that 
thy  better  news  may  be  the  truer." 

"  Believe  me  they  are,  madam, "  answered  Varney.  "  I  pre- 
tend not  to  be  a  champion  of  that  same  naked  virtue  called 
truth  to  the  very  outrance.  I  can  consent  that  her  charms  be 
hidden  with  a  veil,  were  it  but  for  decency's  sake.  But  you 
must  think  lower  of  my  head  and  heart  than  is  due  to  one 
whom  my  noble  lord  deigns  to  call  his  friend,  if  you  suppose 
I  could  wilfully  and  unnecessarily  palm  upon  your  ladyship  a 
falsehood,  so  soon  to  be  detected,  in  a  matter  which  concerns 
your  happiness." 

"Master  Varney,"  said  the  countess,  "I  know  that  my  lord 
esteems  you,  and  holds  you  a  faithful  and  a  good  pilot  in  those 
seas  in  which  he  has  spread  so  high  and  so  venturous  a  sail. 
Do  not  suppose,  therefore,  I  meant  hardly  by  you  when  I 
spoke  the  truth  in  Tressilian's  vindication.  I  am,  as  you 
well  know,  country-bred,  and  like  plain  rustic  truth  better 


KENILWORTH.  81 

tlian  courtly  compliment;  but  I  must  change  my  fashions  with 
my  sphere,  I  presume." 

"True,  madam,"  said  Varney  smiling,  "and  though  you 
speak  now  in  jest,  it  will  not  be  amiss  that  in  earnest  your 
present  speech  had  some  connexion  with  your  real  purpose. 
A  court  dame — take  the  most  noble — the  most  virtuous — the 
most  unimpeachable,  that  stands  around  our  Queen's  throne — 
would,  for  example,  have  shunned  to  speak  the  truth,  or  what 
she  thought  such,  in  praise  of  a  discarded  suitor,  before  the 
dependant  and  confidant  of  her  noble  husband." 

"And  wherefore,"  said  the  countess,  colouring  impatiently, 
"should  I  not  do  justice  to  Tressilian's  worth  before  my  hus- 
band's friend — before  my  husband  himself — before  the  whole 
world?" 

"  And  with  the  same  openness, "  said  Varney,  "  your  lady- 
ship will  this  night  tell  my  noble  lord  your  husband  that 
Tressilian  has  discovered  your  place  of  residence,  so  anxiously 
concealed  from  the  world,  and  that  he  has  had  an  interriew 
with  you?" 

"  Unquestionably, "  said  the  countess.  "  It  wiU  be  the  first 
thing  I  tell  him,  together  with  every  word  that  Tressilian 
said,  and  that  I  answered.  I  shall  speak  my  own  shame  in 
this,  for  Tressilian's  reproaches,  less  just  than  he  esteemed 
them,  were  not  altogether  unmerited — I  will  speak,  therefore, 
^ith  pain,  but  I  will  speak,  and  speak  all." 

"Your  ladyship  will  do  your  pleasure,"  answered  Varney; 
"  but  methinks  it  were  as  well,  since  nothing  calls  for  so  frank 
a  disclosure,  to  spare  yourself  this  pain,  and  my  noble  lord 
the  disquiet,  and  Master  Tressilian,  since  belike  he  must  be 
thought  of  in  the  matter,  the  danger  which  is  like  to  ensue." 

"  I  can  see  nought  of  all  these  terrible  consequences, "  said 
the  lady,  composedly,  "  unless  by  imputing  to  my  noble  lord 
unworthy  thoughts,  which  I  am  sure  never  harboured  in  his 
generous  heart." 

"Far  be  it  from  me  to  do  so,"  said  Varney.     And  then, 

after  a  moment's  silence,  he  added,  with  a  real  or  affected 

plainness  of  manner  very  different  from  his  usual   smooth 

courtesy  s     "  Come,  madam,  I  will  show  you  that  a  courtier 

6 


82  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

dare  speak  truth  as  well  as  another,  when  it  concerns  the  weal 
of  those  whom  he  honours  and  regards,  ay,  and  although  it 
may  infer  his  own  danger."  He  waited  as  if  to  receive  com- 
mands, or  at  least  permission,  to  go  on,  but  as  the  lady 
remained  silent,  he  proceeded,  but  obviously  with  caution. 
"Look  around  you,"  he  said,  "noble  lady,  and  observe  the 
barriers  with  which  this  place  is  surrounded,  the  studious 
mystery  with  which  the  brightest  jewel  that  England  possesses 
is  secluded  from  the  admiring  gaze.  See  with  what  rigour 
your  walks  are  circumscribed,  and  your  movements  restrained 
at  the  beck  of  yonder  churlish  Foster.  Consider  all  this,  and 
judge  for  yourself  what  can  be  the  cause. " 

"My  lord's  pleasure,"  answered  the  countess;  "and  I  ain 
boimd  to  seek  no  other  motive." 

"  His  pleasure  it  is  indeed,"  said  Varney ;  "  and  his  pleasure 
arises  out  of  a  love  worthy  of  the  object  which  inspires  it. 
But  he  who  possesses  a  treasure,  and  who  values  it,  is  oft 
anxious,  in  proportion  to  the  value  he  puts  upon  it,  to  secure 
it  from  the  depredations  of  others." 

"  What  needs  all  this  talk,  Master  Varney?"  said  the  lady, 
in  reply.  "  You  would  have  me  believe  that  my  noble  lord  is 
jealous?     Suppose  it  true,  I  know  a  cure  for  jealousy." 

"Indeed,  madam!"  said  Varney. 

"  It  is, "  replied  the  lady,  "  to  speak  the  truth  to  my  lord  at 
all  times,  to  hold  up  my  mind  and  my  thoughts  before  him 
as  pure  as  that  polished  mirror;  so  that  when  he  looks  into 
my  heart  he  shall  only  see  his  own  features  reflected  there." 

"I  am  mute,  madam,"  answered  Vai-ney;  "and  as  I  have 
no  reason  to  grieve  for  TressUian,  who  would  have  my  heart's 
blood  were  he  able,  I  shall  reconcile  myseK  easily  to  what 
may  befaU.  the  gentleman  in  consequence  of  your  frank  dis- 
closure of  his  having  presumed  to  intrude  upon  your  solitude. 
You,  who  know  my  lord  so  much  better  than  I,  will  judge  if 
he  be  likely  to  bear  the  insult  unavenged." 

"  Nay,  if  I  could  think  myself  the  cause  of  Tressilian's  ruin, " 
said  the  countess — "  I  who  have  already  occasioned  him  so 
much  distress,  I  might  be  brought  to  be  silent.  And  yet  what 
will  it  avail,  since  he  was  seen  by  Foster,  and  I  thinli  by  some 


KENILWORTa  83 

one  else?  Xo,  no,  Varney,  urge  it  no  more.  I  will  tell  tlie 
whole  matter  to  my  lord;  and  with,  such  pleading  for  Tres- 
silian's  folly  as  shall  dispose  my  lord's  generous  heart  rather 
to  serve  than  to  punish  him." 

"  Your  judgment,  madam,"  said  Varney,  "is  far  superior  to 
mine,  especially  as  you  may,  if  you  will,  prove  the  ice  before 
you  step  on  it,  by  mentioning  Tressilian's  name  to  my  lord, 
and  observing  how  he  endures  it.  For  Foster  and  his  attend- 
ant, they  know  not  Tressilian  by  sight,  and  I  can  easily  give 
them  some  reasonable  excuse  for  the  appearance  of  an  un- 
known stranger." 

The  lady  paused  for  an  instant,  and  then  replied :  "  If,  Var- 
ney, it  be  indeed  true  that  Foster  knows  not  as  yet  that  the 
man  he  saw  was  Tressilian,  I  own  I  were  imwilling  he  should 
learn  what  nowise  concerns  him.  He  bears  himself  abeady 
with  austerity  enough,  and  I  wish  him  not  to  be  judge  or 
privy-councillor  in  my  affairs." 

*'  Tush,"  said  Varney,  "  what  has  the  surly  groom  to  do  with 
your  ladyship's  concerns?  No  more,  surely,  than  the  ban-dog 
which  watches  his  courtyard.  If  he  is  in  aught  distasteful  to 
your  ladyship,  I  have  interest  enough  to  have  him  exchanged 
for  a  seneschal  that  shall  be  more  agreeable  to  you." 

"Master  Varney,"  said  the  countess,  "let  us  drop  this 
theme :  when  I  complaiu  of  the  attendants  whom  my  lord  has 
placed  around  me,  it  must  be  to  my  lord  himself.  Hark!  I 
hear  the  trampling  of  horse.  He  comes! — he  comes!"  she 
exclaimed,  jumping  up  in  ecstasy. 

"I  cannot  think  it  is  he,"  said  Varney,  "or  that  you  caa 
hear  the  tread  of  his  horse  through  the  closely  mantled  case- 
ments." 

"  Stop  me  not,  Varney;  my  ears  are  keener  than  thine — ^it 
is  he!" 

"But,  madam! — but,  madam!"  exclaimed  Varney,  anxious- 
ly, and  stni  placing  himself  in  her  way,  "  I  trust  that  what  I 
have  spoken  in  humble  duty  and  service  will  not  be  turned  to 
my  ruin.  I  hope  that  my  faithful  advice  wiU  not  be  bewrayed 
to  my  prejudice.     I  implore  that " 

"Content  thee,  man — content  thee  I"    said  the  countess. 


84  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

"  and  quit  my  skirt :  you  are  too  bold  to  detain  me.     Content 
thyself,  I  think  not  of  thee. " 

At  this  moment  the  folding-doors  flew  wide  open,  and  a  man 
of  majestic  mien,  muifled  in  the  folds  of  a  long  dark  riding- 
cloak,  entered  the  apartment. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

This  is  he 
Who  rides  on  the  court  gale,  controls  its  tides. 
Knows  all  their  secret  shoals  and  fatal  eddies, 
Whose  frown  abases,  and  whose  smile  exalts. 
He  shines  like  any  rainbow — and,  perchance, 
His  colours  are  as  transient. 

Old  Play. 

There  was  some  little  displeasure  and  confusion  on  the 
countess's  brow,  owing  to  her  struggle  with  Varney's  perti- 
nacity; but  it  was  exchanged  for  an  expression  of  the  purest 
joy  and  affection,  as  she  threw  herself  into  the  arms  of  the 
noble  stranger  who  entered,  and  clasping  him  to  her  bosom, 
exclaimed,  "At  length — at  length  thou  art  come!" 

Varney  discreetly  withdrew  as  his  lord  entered,  and  Janet 
was  about  to  do  the  same,  when  her  mistress  signed  to  her  to 
remain.  She  took  her  place  at  the  farther  end  of  the  apart- 
ment, and  continued  standing,  as  if  ready  for  attendance. 

Meanwhile  the  earl,  for  he  was  of  no  inferior  rank,  returned 
his  lady's  caress  with  the  most  affectionate  ardour,  but  affected 
to  resist  when  she  strove  to  take  his  cloak  from  him. 

"Nay,"  she  said,  "but  I  will  unmantle  you.  I  must  see  if 
you  have  kept  your  word  to  me,  and  come  as  the  great  earl 
men  call  thee,  and  not  as  heretofore  like  a  private  cavalier." 

"  Thou  art  like  the  rest  of  the  world,  Amy, "  said  the  earl, 
suffering  her  to  prevail  in  the  playful  contest :  "  the  jewels, 
and  feathers,  and  silk  are  more  to  them  than  the  man  whom 
they  adorn :  many  a  poor  blade  looks  gay  in  a  velvet  scab- 
bard." 

"  But  so  cannot  men  say  of  thee,  thou  noble  earl, "  said  his 


KENILWORTH.  85 

lady,  as  the  cloak  dropped  on  the  floor,  and  showed  him 
dressed  as  princes  when  they  ride  abroad ;  "  thou  art  the  good 
and  well-tried  steel,  whose  inly  worth  deserves,  yet  disdains, 
its  outward  ornaments.  Do  not  think  Amy  can  love  thee 
better  in  this  glorious  garb  than  she  did  when  she  gave  her 
heart  to  him  who  wore  the  russet-brown  cloak  in  the  woods  of 
Devon." 

"And  thou  too,"  said  the  earl,  as  gracefully  and  majesti- 
cally he  led  his  beautiful  coimtess  towards  the  chair  of  state 
which  was  prepared  for  them  both — "  thou  too,  my  love,  hast 
donned  a  dress  which  becomes  thy  rank,  though  it  cannot  im- 
prove thy  beauty.     What  think' st  thou  of  our  court  taste?" 

The  lady  cast  a  sidelong  glance  upon  the  great  mirror  as  they 
passed  it  by,  and  then  said :  "  I  know  not  how  it  is,  but  I  think 
not  of  my  own  person  while  I  look  at  the  reflection  of  thine. 
Sit  thou  there,"  she  said,  as  they  approached  the  chair  of 
state,  "like  a  thing  for  men  to  worship  and  to  wonder  at." 

"  Ay,  love,"  said  the  earl,  "  if  thou  wilt  share  my  state  with 
me." 

"  Not  so, "  said  the  countess ;  "  I  will  sit  on  this  footstool  at 
thy  feet,  that  I  may  spell  over  thy  splendour,  and  learn,  for 
the  first  time,  how  princes  are  attired," 

And  with  a  childish  wonder  which  her  youth  and  rustic 
education  rendered  not  only  excusable  but  becoming,  mixed  as 
it  was  with  a  delicate  show  of  the  most  tender  conjugal  affec- 
tion, she  examined  and  admired  from  head  to  foot  the  noble 
form  and  princely  attire  of  him  who  formed  the  proudest  orna- 
ment of  the  court  of  England's  Maiden  Queen,  renowned  as  it 
was  for  splendid  courtiers,  as  well  as  for  wise  counsellors. 
Eegarding  affectionately  his  lovely  bride,  and  gratified  by  her 
unrepressed  admiration,  the  dark  eye  and  noble  features  of  the 
earl  expressed  passions  more  gentle  than  the  commanding  and 
aspiring  look  which  usually  sate  upon  his  broad  forehead  and 
in  the  piercing  brilliancy  of  his  dark  eye ;  and  he  smiled  at 
the  simplicity  which  dictated  the  questions  she  put  to  him 
concerning  the  various  ornaments  with  which  he  was  deco- 
rated. 

"The   embroidered  strap,   as   thou  callest  it,   around  my 


S6  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

knee, ''  he  said,  "  is  the  Euglish  Garter — an  ornament  which 
kings  are  proud  to  wear.  See,  here  is  the  star  Avhich  belongs 
to  it,  and  here  the  Diamond  George,  the  jewel  of  the  order. 
You  have  heard  how  King  Edward  and  the  Coiuitess  of  Salis- 
bury  " 

"  Oh,  I  know  all  that  tale,"  said  the  countess,  slightly  blush- 
ing, "  and  how  a  lady's  garter  became  the  proudest  badge  of 
English  chivahy." 

"Even  so,"  said  the  earl;  "and  this  most  honourable  order 
I  had  the  good  hap  to  receive  at  the  same  time  with  three 
most  noble  associates — the  Duke  of  Norfolk,  the  Marquis  of 
Northampton,  and  the  Earl  of  Rutland.  I  was  the  lowest  of 
the  four  in  rank;  but  what  then?  he  that  climbs  a  ladder 
must  begin  at  the  first  roimd. " 

"  But  this  other  fair  collar,  so  richly  wrought,  with  some 
jewel  like  a  sheep  hung  by  the  middle  attached  to  it,  what," 
said  the  young  countess,  "does  that  emblem  signify?" 

"  This  collar,"  said  the  earl,  "  with  its  double  fusilles  iuter- 
changed  with  these  knobs,  which  are  supposed  to  present 
flintstones,  sparkling  with  fire,  and  sustaining  the  jewel  you 
inquire  about,  is  the  badge  of  the  noble  order  of  the  Golden 
Eleece,  once  appertaining  to  the  house  of  Burgundy.  It  hath 
high  privileges,  my  Amy,  belonging  to  it,  this  most  noble 
order;  for  even  the  king  of  Spain  himself,  who  hath  now- 
succeeded  to  the  honours  and  demesnes  of  Biu-gundy,  may 
not  sit  in  judgment  upon  a  knight  of  the  Golden  Fleece, 
imless  by  assistance  and  consent  of  the  great  chapter  of  the 
order." 

"  And  is  this  an  order  belonging  to  the  cruel  king  of  Spain?" 
said  the  countess.  "  Alas !  my  noble  lord,  that  you  will  defile 
your  noble  English  breast  by  bearing  such  an  emblem!  Be- 
thLak  you  of  the  most  unhappy  Queen  Mai-y's  days,  when  this 
same  Philip  held  sway  with  her  in  England,  and  of  the  piles 
which  were  built  for  our  noblest,  and  our  wisest,  and  our 
most  truly  sanctified  prelates  and  divines.  And  will  you, 
whom  men  call  the  standard-bearer  of  the  true  Protestant 
faith,  be  contented  to  wear  the  emblem  and  mark  of  such  a 
Homish  tyrant  as  he  of  Spain?" 


KENILWORTH.  87 

"Oh,  content  you,  iny  love/*"  answered  the  earl;  "we  who 
spread  our  sails  to  gales  of  court  favour  cannot  always  display 
the  ensigns  we  love  the  best,  or  at  all  times  refuse  sailing 
under  colours  which  we  like  not.  Believe  me,  I  am  not  the 
less  good  Protestant  that  for  policy  I  must  accept  the  honour 
offered  me  by  Spain,  in  admitting  me  to  this  his  highest  order 
of  knighthood.  Besides,  it  belongs  properly  to  Flanders ;  and 
Egmont,  Orange,  and  others  have  pride  in  seeing  it  displayed 
on  an  English  bosom." 

*•'  X ay,  my  lord,  you  know  your  own  path  best, "  replied  the 
countess.  "And  this  other  collar,  to  what  country  does  this 
fair  jewel  belong?" 

"  To  a  very  poor  one,  my  love, "  replied  the  earl :  "  this  is 
the  order  of  St.  Andrew,  revived  by  the  last  James  of  Scot- 
laud.  It  was  bestowed  on  me  when  it  was  thought  the  young 
widow  of  France  and  Scotland  would  gladly  have  wedded  an 
English  baron ;  but  a  free  coronet  of  England  is  worth  a  crowa 
matrimonial  held  at  the  humour  of  a  woman,  and  owning  only 
the  poor  rocks  and  bogs  of  the  noi-th. " 

The  countess  paused,  as  if  what  the  earl  last  said  had  ex- 
cited some  painful  but  interesting  train  of  thought ;  and,  as 
she  still  remained  silent,  her  husband  proceeded. 

**  And  now,  loveliest,  your  wish  is  gratified,  and  you  have 
seen  your  vassal  in  such  of  his  trim  an-ay  as  accords  with  rid- 
mg  vestments;  for  robes  of  state  and  coronets  are  only  for 
princely  halls." 

"Well,  then,"  said  the  countess,  "my  gratified  wish  has, 
as  usual,  given  rise  to  a  new  one." 

"And  what  is  it  thou  canst  ask  that  I  can  deny?"  said  the 
fond  husband. 

"I  wished  to  see  my  earl  visit  this  obscuie  and  secret 
bower,"  said  the  countess,  "in  all  his  princely  array;  and 
now,  methinks,  I  long  to  sit  in  one  of  his  princely  halls,  and 
see  him  enter  dressed  in  sober  russet,  as  when  he  won  poor 
Amy  Eobsart's  heart." 

"That  is  a  wish  easily  granted,"  said  the  earlj  "the  sober 
russet  shall  be  donned  to-morrow,  if  you  will." 

"But  shall  I,"  said  the  lady,  "go  with  you  to  one  of  youx 


88  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

castles,  to  see  how  the  richness  of  your  dwelling  will  corre- 
spond with  your  peasant  habit?" 

"  Why,  Amy, "  said  the  earl,  looking  around,  "  are  not  these 
apartments  decorated  with  sufficient  splendour?  I  gave  the 
most  unbounded  order,  and,  methinks,  it  has  been  indifferent- 
ly well  obeyed ;  but  if  thou  canst  tell  me  aught  which  remains 
to  be  done,  I  will  instantly  give  direction." 

"Nay,  my  lord,  now  you  mock  me,"  replied  the  countess; 
"the  gaiety  of  this  rich  lodging  exceeds  my  imagination  as 
much  as  it  does  my  desert.  But  shall  not  your  wife,  my 
love — at  least  one  day  soon — be  surrounded  with  the  honour 
which  arises  neither  from  the  toils  of  the  mechanic  who  decks 
her  apartment  nor  from  the  silks  and  jewels  with  which  your 
generosity  adorns  her,  but  which  is  attached  to  her  place  among 
the  matronage,  as  the  avowed  wife  of  England's  noblest  earl?" 

"One  day!"  said  her  husband.  "Yes,  Amy,  my  love,  one 
day  this  shall  surely  happen ;  and,  believe  me,  thou  canst  not 
"wish  for  that  day  more  fondly  than  I.  With  what  rapture 
could  I  retire  from  labours  of  state,  and  cares  and  toils  of 
ambition,  to  spend  my  life  in  dignity  and  honour  on  my  own 
broad  domains,  with  thee,  my  lovely  Amy,  for  my  friend  and 
companion !  But,  Amy,  this  cannot  yet  be ;  and  these  dear 
but  stolen  interviews  are  all  I  can  give  to  the  loveliest  and  the 
best  beloved  of  her  sex." 

"  But  why  can  it  not  be?"  urged  the  countess,  in  the  soft- 
est tones  of  persuasion.  "  Why  can  it  not  immediately  take 
place — this  more  perfect,  this  uninterrupted  union,  for  which 
you  say  you  wish,  and  which  the  laws  of  God  and  man  alike 
command?  Ah!  did  you  but  desire  it  half  as  much  as  you 
say,  mighty  and  favoured  as  you  are,  who  or  what  should  bar 
your  attaining  your  wish?" 

The  earl's  brow  was  overcast. 

"  Amy, "  he  said,  "  you  speak  of  what  you  understand  not. 
We  that  toil  in  courts  are  like  those  who  climb  a  mountain  of 
loose  sand:  we  dare  make  no  halt  until  some  projecting  rock 
afford  us  a  secure  footing  and  resting-place ;  if  we  pause  sooner, 
we  slide  down  by  our  own  weight,  an  object  of  universal  de- 
rision.    I  stand  high,  but  I  stand  not  secure  enough  to  follow 


KENILWORTH.  89 

my  own  inclination.  To  declare  my  marriage  were  to  be  the 
artificer  of  my  own  ruin.  But,  believe  me,  I  will  reach  a 
point,  and  that  speedily,  when  I  can  do  justice  to  thee  and  to 
myseK.  Meantime,  poison  not  the  bliss  of  the  present  mo- 
ment by  desiring  that  which  cannot  at  present  be.  Let  me 
rather  know  whether  all  here  is  managed  to  thy  liking.  How 
does  Foster  bear  himself  to  you?  in  all  things  respectful,  I 
trust,  else  the  fellow  shall  dearly  rue  it." 

"  He  reminds  me  sometimes  of  the  necessity  of  this  pri- 
vacy," answered  the  lady,  with  a  sigh ;  "  but  that  is  reminding 
me  of  your  wishes,  and  therefore  I  am  rather  bound  to  him 
than  disposed  to  blame  him  for  it." 

"  I  have  told  you  the  stern  necessity  which  is  upon  us, "  re- 
plied the  earl.  "  Foster  is,  I  note,  somewhat  sullen  of  mood, 
but  V'arney  warrants  to  me  his  fidelity  and  devotion  to  my 
service.  If  thou  hast  aught,  however,  to  complain  of  the 
mode  in  which  he  discharges  his  duty,  he  shall  abye  it." 

"  Oh,  I  have  nought  to  complain  of, "  answered  the  lady,  "  so 
he  discharges  his  task  with  fidelity  to  you ;  and  his  daughter 
Janet  is  the  kindest  and  best  companion  of  my  solitude,  her 
little  air  of  precision  sits  so  well  upon  her!" 

"Is  she  indeed?"  said  the  earl;  "she  who  gives  you  pleas- 
ure must  not  pass  unrewarded.     Come  hither,  damsel." 

"Janet,"  said  the  lady,  "come  hither  to  my  lord." 

Janet,  who,  as  we  already  noticed,  had  discreetly  retired  to 
some  distance,  that  her  presence  might  be  no  check  upon  the 
private  conversation  of  her  lord  and  lady,  now  came  forward; 
and  as  she  made  her  reverential  courtesy,  the  earl  could  not 
avoid  smiling  at  the  contrast  which  the  extreme  simplicity  of 
her  dress,  and  the  prim  demureuess  of  her  looks,  made  with  a 
very  pretty  countenance  and  a  pair  of  black  eyes,  that  laughed 
in  spite  of  their  mistress's  desire  to  look  grave. 

"  I  am  bound  to  you,  pretty  damsel, "  said  the  earl,  "  for  the 
contentment  which  yoiir  service  hath  given  to  this  lady. "  As 
he  said  this,  he  took  from  his  finger  a  ring  of  some  price,  and 
offered  it  to  Janet  Foster,  adding :  "  Wear  this,  for  her  sake 
and  for  mine." 

"  I  am  well  pleased,  my  lord, "  answered  Janet,  demurely. 


90  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

**  that  my  poor  service  Hath  gratified  my  lady,  whom  no  one 
can  draw  nigh  to  without  desiring  to  please ;  but  we  of  the 
precicnis  Master  Holdforth's  congi-egation  seek  not,  like  the 
gay  daughters  of  this  world,  to  twine  gold  around  our  fingers, 
<or  wear  stones  upon  our  necks,  like  the  vain  women  of  Tyre 
and  of  Sidon." 

"  Oh,  what !  you  are  a  grave  professor  of  the  precise  sister- 
hood, pretty  Mrs.  Janet,"  said  the  earl,  "and  I  think  your 
father  is  of  the  same  congregation  in  sincerity.  I  like  you 
both  the  better  for  it ;  for  I  have  been  prayed  for,  and  wished 
well  to,  in  yom*  congregations.  And  you  may  the  better 
afford  the  lack  of  ornament,  ^lis.  Janet,  because  your  fingers 
are  slender  and  your  neck  white.  But  here  is  what  neither 
Papist  nor  Puritan,  latitudinarian  nor  precisian,  ever  boggles 
or  makes  mouths  at.  E'en  take  it,  my  girl,  and  employ  it  as 
you  list." 

So  saying,  he  put  into  her  hand  five  broad  gold  pieces  of 
Philip  and  Mary. 

"  I  would  not  accept  this  gold  neither, "  said  Janet,  "  but 
that  I  hope  to  find  a  use  for  it  which  will  bring  a  blessing  on 
us  aU.» 

"  Even  please  thyself,  pretty  Janet, "  said  the  earl,  "  and  I 
shall  be  well  satisfied.  And  I  prithee  let  them  hasten  the 
evening  collation." 

"  I  have  bidden  Master  Varney  and  Master  Poster  to  sup 
with  us,  my  lord,"  said  the  countess,  as  Janet  retired  to  obey 
the  earl's  commands;  "has  it  your  approbation?" 

"  What  you  do  ever  must  have  so,  my  sweet  Amy, "  replied 
her  husband ;  "  and  I  am  the  better  pleased  thou  hast  done 
them  this  grace,  because  Pichard  Varney  is  my  sworn  man, 
and  a  close  brother  of  my  secret  council ;  and  for  the  present 
I  must  needs  repose  much  trust  in  this  Anthony  Foster." 

"  I  had  a  boon  to  beg  of  thee,  and  a  secret  to  tell  thee,  my 
dear  lord, "  said  the  countess,  with  a  faltering  accent. 

"  Let  both  be  for  to-morrow,  my  love,"  replied  the  earl.  "  I 
see  they  open  the  folding-doors  into  the  banqueting-parlour, 
and,  as  I  have  ridden  far  and  fast,  a  cup  of  wine  will  not  be 
unacceptable." 


KENILWORTH.  91 

So  saying,  he  led  his  lovely  wife  into  the  next  apartment^ 
where  Varney  and  Foster  received  them  with  the  deepest  rev- 
erences,  which  the  iirst  paid  after  the  fashion  of  the  court, 
and  the  second  after  that  of  the  congregation.  The  earl 
returned  their  salutation  with  the  negligent  courtesy  of  one 
long  used  to  such  homage ;  while  the  countess  repaid  it  with 
a  punctilious  solicitude  which  showed  it  was  not  quite  so  fa- 
miliar to  her." 

The  banquet  at  which  the  company  seated  themselves  cor- 
responded in  magnificence  with  the  splendour  of  the  apart- 
ment in  which  it  was  served  up,  but  no  domestic  gave  his 
attendance.  Janet  alone  stood  ready  to  wait  upon  the  com- 
pany; and,  indeed,  the  board  was  so  well  supplied  with  aE 
that  fiould  be  desired  that  little  or  no  assistance  was  necessary. 
The  earl  and  his  lady  occupied  the  upper  end  of  the  table,  and 
Vainey  and  Foster  sat  beneath  the  salt,  as  was  the  custom 
with  inferiors.  The  latter,  overawed  perhaps  by  society  ta 
which  he  was  altogether  unused,  did  not  utter  a  single  syllable 
during  the  repast ;  while  Varney,  with  great  tact  and  discern- 
ment, sustained  just  so  much  of  the  conversation  as,  without 
the  appearance  of  intrusion  on  his  part,  prevented  it  from 
languishing,  and  maintained  the  good-hmnour  of  the  earl  at 
the  highest  pitch.  This  man  was  indeed  highly  qualified  by 
nature  to  discharge  the  part  in  which  he  found  himself  placed, 
being  discreet  and  cautious  on  the  one  hand,  and  on  the  other- 
quick,  keen-witted,  and  imaginative ;  so  that  even  the  coun- 
tess, prejudiced  as  she  was  against  him  on  many  accounts,  felt 
and  enjoyed  his  powers  of  conversation,  and  was  more  disposed 
than  she  had  ever  hitherto  found  herself  to  join  in  the  praises 
which  the  earl  lavished  on  his  favourite.  The  hour  of  rest  at 
length  arrived,  the  earl  and  countess  retired  to  their  apart- 
ment, and  all  was  silent  in  the  castle  for  the  rest  of  the 
night. 

Early  on  the  ensuing  morning,  Varney  acted  as  the  earl's 
chamberlain  as  well  as  his  master  of  horse,  though  the  latter 
was  his  proper  office  in  that  magnificent  household,  where 
knights  and  gentlemen  of  good  descent  were  well  contented  to 
bold  such  menial  situations  as  nobles  themselves  held  in  thab 


t2  WAVKRLEY  NOVELS. 

of  the  sovereign.  The  duties  of  each  of  these  charges  were 
familial"  to  Varney,  who,  sprung  from  an  ancient  but  some* 
what  decayed  family,  was  the  earl's  page  during  his  earlier 
and  more  obscure  fortunes,  and,  faithful  to  him  in  adversity, 
had  afterwards  contrived  to  render  himself  no  less  useful  to 
him  in  his  rapid  and  splendid  advance  to  fortune;  thus  estab- 
lishing in  him  an  interest  resting  both  on  present  and  past  ser- 
vices, which  rendered  him  an  almost  indispensable  sharer  of 
his  confidence. 

"  Help  me  to  do  on  a  plainer  riding-suit,  Varney, "  said  the 
€arl,  as  he  laid  aside  his  morning-gown,  flowered  with  silk 
and  lined  with  sables,  "  and  put  these  chains  and  fetters  there 
{pointing  to  the  collars  of  the  various  orders  which  lay  on  the 
table)  into  their  place  of  security ;  my  neck  last  night  was 
wellnigh  broke  with  the  weight  of  them.  I  am  half  of  the 
mind  that  they  shall  gall  me  no  more.  They  are  bonds  which 
knaves  have  invented  to  fetter  fools.  How  think' st  thou, 
Yarney?" 

"  Faith,  my  good  lord, "  said  his  attendant,  "  I  think  fetters 
of  gold  are  like  no  other  fetters :  they  are  ever  the  weightier 
the  welcomer." 

"  For  all  that,  Varney, "  replied  his  master,  "  I  am  wellnigh 
resolved  they  shall  bind  me  to  the  court  no  longer.  What 
can  further  service  and  higher  favour  give  me,  beyond  the 
i-ank  and  large  estate  which  I  have  already  secured?  What 
brought  my  father  to  the  block,  but  that  he  could  not  bound 
his  wishes  within  right  and  reason?  I  have,  you  know,  had 
mine  own  ventures  and  mine  own  escapes ;  I  am  wellnigh  re- 
solved to  tempt  the  sea  no  farther,  but  sit  me  down  in  quiet 
on  the  shore." 

"And  gather  cockle-shells,  with  Dan  Cupid  to  aid  you," 
said  Varney. 

*'  How  mean  you  by  that,  Varney?"  said  the  earl,  somewhat 
hastily. 

"Nay,  my  lord,"  said  Varney,  "be  not  angry  with  me.  If 
your  lordship  is  happy  in  a  lady  so  rarely  lovely  that,  in  order 
to  enjoy  her  company  with  somewhat  more  freedom,  you  are 
willing  to  part  with  all  you  have  hitherto  lived  for,  some  of 


KENILWORTH.  93 

your  poor  servants  may  be  sufferers ;  but  your  bounty  hath, 
placed  me  so  high,  that  I  shall  ever  have  enough  to  maintain 
a  poor  gentleman  in  the  rank  befitting  the  high  office  he  has 
held  in  your  lordship's  family." 

"  Yet  you  seem  discontented  when  I  propose  throwing  up  a 
dangerous  game,  which  may  end  in  the  ruin  of  both  of  us." 

"  I,  my  lord!"  said  Varney ;  "  surely  I  have  no  cause  to  re- 
gret your  lordship's  retreat.  It  will  not  be  Eichard  Varney 
who  will  incur  the  displeasure  of  majesty,  and  the  ridicule  of 
the  court,  when  the  stateliest  fabric  that  ever  was  founded 
upon  a  prince's  favour  melts  away  like  a  morning  frost-work. 
I  would  only  have  you  yourself  be  assured,  my  lord,  ere  you 
take  a  step  which  cannot  be  retracted,  that  you  consult  your 
fame  and  happiness  in  the  course  you  propose." 

"  Speak  on,  then,  Varney, "  said  the  earl ;  "  I  tell  thee  I 
have  determined  nothing,  and  will  weigh  all  considerations  on 
either  side." 

"  Well,  then,  my  lord, "  replied  Varney,  "  we  will  suppose 
the  step  taken,  the  frown  frowned,  the  laugh  laughed,  and  the 
moan  moaned.  You  have  retired,  we  will  say,  to  some  one  of 
your  most  distant  castles,  so  far  from  court  that  you  hear 
neither  the  sorrow  of  your  friends  nor  the  glee  of  your  ene- 
mies. We  will  suppose,  too,  that  your  successful  rival  wiU  be 
satisfied — a  thing  greatly  to  be  doubted — with  abridging  and 
cutting  away  the  branches  of  the  great  tree  which  so  long  kept 
the  sun  from  him,  and  that  he  does  not  insist  upon  tearing  you 
up  by  the  roots.  Well,  the  late  prime  favourite  of  England, 
who  wielded  her  general's  staff  and  controlled  her  parliaments, 
is  now  a  rural  baron,  hunting,  hawking,  drinking  fat  ale  with 
country  esquires,  and  mustering  his  men  at  the  command  of 
the  high  sheriff " 

"Varney,  forbear!"  said  the  earl. 

"Nay,  my  lord,  you  must  give  me  leave  to  conclude  my 
picture.  Sussex  governs  England,  the  Queen's  health  fails, 
the  succession  is  to  be  settled — a  road  is  opened  to  ambition 
more  splendid  than  ambition  ever  dreamed  of.  You  hear  all 
this  as  you  sit  by  the  hob,  under  the  shade  of  your  hall  chim- 
ney.    You  then  begin  to  think  what  hopes  you  have  fallea 


94  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

from,  and  what  insignificance  you  have  embraced,  and  all  that 
you  might  look  babies  in  the  eyes  of  youi-  fair  wife  oftener 
than  once  a  fortnight." 

"I  say,  Varney,"  said  the  earl,  "no  more  of  this.  I  said 
not  that  the  step,  which  my  own  ease  and  comfort  would  urge 
me  to,  was  to  be  taken  hastily,  or  without  due  consideration  to 
the  public  safety.  Beai'  witness  to  me,  Varney ;  I  subdue  my- 
wishes  of  retirement,  not  because  I  am  moved  by  the  call  of 
private  ambition,  but  that  I  may  preserve  the  position  in  which 
I  may  best  serve  my  country  at  the  hour  of  need.  Order  our 
horses  presently.  I  will  wear,  as  formerly-,  one  of  the  livery 
cloaks,  and  ride  before  the  portmantle.  Thou  shalt  be  master 
for  the  day,  Varney ;  neglect  nothing  that  can  blind  suspicion. 
We  will  to  horse  ere  men  are  stirring.  I  will  but  take  leave 
of  my  lady,  and  be  ready.  I  impose  a  restraint  on  my  own 
poor  heart,  and  wound  one  yet  more  dear  to  me;  but  the  pa- 
triot must  subdue  the  husband." 

Having  said  this  in  a  melancholy  but  firm  accent,  he  left 
the  dressing-apartment. 

"I  am  glad  thou  art  gone,"  thought  Varney,  "or,  practised 
as  I  am  in  the  follies  of  mankind,  I  had  laughed  in  the  very 
face  of  thee !  Thou  mayst  tire  as  thou  wilt  of  thy  new  bauble, 
thy  pretty  piece  of  painted  Eve's  flesh  there,  I  will  not  be 
thy  hinderance.  But  of  thine  old  bauble,  ambition,  thou 
shalt  not  tire,  for  as  you  climb  the  hill,  my  lord,  you  must 
drag  Richard  Varney  up  with  you ;  and  if  he  can  lu-ge  you  to 
the  ascent  he  means  to  profit  by,  believe  me  he  will  spare 
neither  whip  nor  spur.  And  for  you,  my  prett)"-  lady,  that 
wou.ld  be  countess  outright,  you  were  best  not  thwart  my 
courses,  lest  you  are  called  to  an  old  reckoning  on  a  new  score. 
*Thou  shalt  be  master,'  did  he  say?  By  my  faith,  he  may 
find  that  he  spoke  truer  than  he  is  aware  of.  And  thus  he, 
who,  in  the  estimation  of  so  many  wise-judging  men,  can 
match  Burleigh  and  Walsingham  in  policy,  and  Sussex  in 
war,  becomes  pupil  to  his  own  menial ;  and  all  for  a  hazel  eye 
and  a  little  cunning  red  and  white,  and  so  falls  ambition. 
And  yet,  if  the  charms  of  mortal  woman  coidd  excuse  a  man's 
politic  pate  for  becoming  bewildered,  my  lord  had  the  excuse 


KENILWORTH.  95 

at  his  light  hand  on  tMs  blessed  evening  that  has  last  passed 
over  us.  Well,  let  things  roll  as  they  may,  he  shall  make  me 
great,  or  I  will  make  myself  happy ;  and  for  that  softer  piece 
of  creation,  if  she  speak  not  out  her  interview  with  Tressilian, 
as  well  I  think  she  dare  not,  she  also  must  traffic  with  me  for 
concealment  and  mutual  support  in  spite  of  all  this  scorn.  I 
must  to  the  stables.  Well,  my  lord,  I  order  your  retinue  now; 
the  time  may  soon  come  that  mi/  master  of  the  horse  shall 
order  mine  OAvn.  What  was  Thomas  Cromwell  but  a  smith's 
sou,  and  he  died  *my  lord' — on  a  scaffold,  doubtless,  but 
that,  too,  was  in  chai'acter.  And  what  was  Ralph  Sadler  but 
the  clerk  of  Cromwell,  and  he  has  gazed  eighteen  fair  lord- 
ships,— via/  I  know  my  steerage  as  well  as  they." 

So  saying,  he  left  the  apartment. 

In  the  mean  while  the  earl  had  re-entered  the  bedchamber, 
bent  on  taking  a  hasty  farewell  of  the  lovely  covuitess,  and 
scarce  daring  to  trust  himself  in  private  with  her,  to  hear  re- 
quests again  urged  which  he  found  it  difficult  to  parry,  yet 
which  his  recent  conversation  with  his  master  of  horse  had 
determined  him  not  to  grant. 

He  found  her  in  a  white  cymar  of  silk  liaed  with  furs,  her 
little  feet  unstockinged  and  hastily  thrust  into  slippers,  her 
unbraided  hair  escaping  from  under  her  midnight  coif — with 
little  array  but  her  own  loveliness,  rather  augmented  than 
diminished  by  the  grief  which  she  felt  at  the  approaching 
moment  of  separation. 

"Now,  God  be  with  thee,  my  dearest  and  loveliest!"  said 
the  earl,  scarce  teai'ing  himself  from  her  embrace,  yet  again 
returning  to  fold  her  again  and  again  in  his  arms,  and  again 
bidding  farewell,  and  again  returning  to  kiss  and  bid  adieu 
once  more.  "  The  sun  is  on  the  verge  of  the  blue  horizon — I 
dare  not  stay.  Ere  this  I  should  have  .been  ten  miles  from 
hence." 

Such  were  the  words  with  which  at  length  he  strove  to  cut 
short  their  parting  interview. 

"You  will  not  grant  my  request,  then?"  said  the  countess. 
"  Ah,  false  knight !  did  ever  lady,  with  bare  foot  in  slipper, 
seek  boon  of  a  brave  knight,  yet  return  with  denial  ?" 


96  WAVERLET  NOVELS. 

"Anything,  Amy — anything  thou  canst  ask  I  •will  grant," 
answered  the  earl  j  "  always  excepting, "  he  said,  "  that  which 
might  ruin  us  both." 

*'  Nay, "  said  the  countess,  "  I  urge  not  my  wish  to  be  ac- 
knowledged in  the  character  which  would  make  me  the  envy  of 
England — as  the  wife,  that  is,  of  my  brave  and  noble  lord,  the 
first  as  the  most  fondly  beloved  of  English  nobles.  Let  me 
but  share  the  secret  with  my  dear  father !  Let  me  but  end 
his  misery  on  my  unworthy  account ;  they  say  he  is  ill,  the 
good  old  kind-hearted  man!" 

'■'■They  say?"  asked  the  earl,  hastily;  "who  says?  Did 
not  Varney  convey  to  Sir  Hugh  all  we  dare  at  present  tell  him 
concerning  your  happiness  and  welfare?  And  has  he  not  told 
you  that  the  good  old  knight  was  following,  with  good  heart 
and  health,  his  favourite  and  wonted  exercise?  Who  has 
dared  put  other  thoughts  into  your  head?" 

"  Oh,  no  one,  my  lord — no  one,"  said  the  countess,  something 
alarmed  at  the  tone  in  which  the  question  was  put ;  "  but  yet, 
my  lord,  I  would  fain  be  assured  by  mine  own  eyesight  that 
my  father  is  well." 

"  Be  contented.  Amy ;  thou  canst  not  now  have  communica- 
tion with  thy  father  or  his  house.  Were  it  not  a  deep  course 
of  policy  to  commit  no  secret  unnecessarily  to  the  custody  of 
more  than  must  needs  be,  it  were  sufficient  reason  for  secrecy 
that  yonder  Cornishman — yonder  Trevanion,  or  Tressilian, 
or  whatever  his  name  is — haunts  the  old  knight's  house,  and 
must  necessarily  know  whatever  is  communicated  there." 

"My  lord,"  answered  the  countess,  "I  do  not  thiak  it  so. 
My  father  has  been  long  noted  a  worthy  and  honourable  man; 
and  for  Tressilian,  if  we  can  pardon  ourselves  the  ill  we  have 
wrought  him,  I  will  wager  the  coronet  I  am  to  share  with  you 
one  day  that  he  is  incapable  of  returning  injury  for  injury." 

"  I  will  not  trust  him,  however,  Amy, "  said  her  husband— 
"  by  my  honour,  I  will  not  trust  him.  I  would  rather  the  foul 
fiend  intermingle  in  our  secret  than  this  TressUian!" 

"And  why,  my  lord?"  said  the  countess,  though  she  shud- 
dered slightly  at  the  tone  of  determination  in  which  he  spoke ; 
"let  me  but  know  why  you  think  thus  hardly  of  Tressilian?" 


Tnaringr  himself  from  her  embrace,  yet  again  returuiiif?  to  fold  her  atrain  and 
agaiu  ill  his  arms. 


KENIL  WORTH.  97 

rr- 

"  Madam, "  replied  the  earl,  "  my  will  ought  to  be  a  sufficient 
reason.  If  you  desire  more,  consider  how  this  Tressilian  is 
leagued,  and  with  whom.  He  stands  high  in  the  opinion  of 
this  Eatcliffe,  this  Sussex,  against  whom  I  am  barely  able  to 
maintain  my  ground  in  the  opinion  of  our  suspicious  mistress ; 
and  if  he  had  me  at  such  advantage,  Amy,  as  to  become 
acquainted  with  the  tale  of  our  marriage  before  Elizabeth 
were  litly  prepared,  I  were  an  outcast  from  her  grace  for 
ever — a  bankrupt  at  once  in  favour  and  in  fortune,  perhaps, 
for  she  hath  in  her  a  touch  of  her  father  Henry — a  victim, 
and  it  may  be  a  bloody  one,  to  her  offended  and  jealous  re- 
sentment. " 

"But  why,  my  lord,"  again  urged  his  lady,  "should  you 
deem  thus  injuriously  of  a  man  of  whom  you  know  so  little? 
What  you  do  know  of  Tressilian  is  through  me,  and  it  is  I  who 
assure  you  that  in  no  circumstances  will  he  betray  your  secret. 
If  I  did  him  wrong  in  your  behalf^  my  lord,  I  am  now  the 
more  concerned  you  should  do  him  justice.  You  are  offended 
at  my  speaking  of  him,  what  would  you  say  had  I  actually 
myself  seen  him?" 

"  If  you  had, "  replied  the  earl,  "  you  would  do  well  to  keep 
that  interview  as  secret  as  that  which  is  spoken  in  a  confes- 
sional. I  seek  no  one's  ruin;  but  he  who  thrusts  himseK  on 
my  secret  privacy  were  better  look  well  to  his  future  walk. 
The  bear '  brooks  no  one  to  cross  his  awful  path. " 

"Awful,  indeed!"  said  the  countess,  turning  very  pale. 

"  You  are  ill,  my  love, "  said  the  earl,  supporting  her  in  his 
arms ;  "  stretch  yourself  on  your  couch  again ;  it  is  but  early 
day  for  you  to  leave  it.  Have  you  aught  else,  involving  less 
than  my  fame,  my  fortune,  and  my  life,  to  ask  of  me?" 

"  iSTothing,  my  lord  and  love, "  answered  the  countess,  faint- 
ly;  "  something  there  was  that  I  would  have  told  you,  but 
your  anger  has  driven  it  from  my  recollection." 

"  Reserve  it  till  our  next  meeting,  my  love, "  said  the  earl 
fondly,  and  again  embracing  her ;  "  and  barring  only  those  re- 
quests which  I  cannot  and  dare  not  grant,  thy  wish  must  be 

'  The  Leicester  cognizance  was  the  ancient  device  adopted  by  his  father, 
when  Earl  of  Warwick,  the  bear  and  ragged  staff. 
7 


98  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

more  than  England  and  all  its  dependencies  can  fulfil  if  it  is 
not  gratified  to  the  letter." 

Thus  saying,  he  at  length  took  farewell.  At  the  bottom  of 
the  staircase  he  received  from  Yarney  an  ample  livery  cloak 
and  slouched  hat,  in  which  he  wrapped  himself  so  as  to  dis- 
guise his  person  and  completely  conceal  his  features.  Horses 
were  ready  in  the  courtyard  for  himseK  and  Varney;  for  one 
or  two  of  his  train,  entrusted  with  the  secret  so  far  as  to  know 
or  guess  that  the  earl  intrigued  with  a  beautifid  lady  at  that 
mansion,  though  her  name  and  quality  were  unknown  to  them, 
had  already  been  dismissed  over  night. 

Anthony  Foster  himself  had  in  hand  the  rein  of  the  earl's 
palfrey,  a  stout  and  able  nag  for  the  road;  while  his  old  serv- 
ing-man held  the  bridle  of  the  more  showy  and  gallant  steed 
which  E-ichard  Varney  was  to  occupy  in  the  character  of 
master. 

As  the  earl  approached,  however,  Varney  advanced  to  hold 
his  master's  bridle,  and  to  prevent  Foster  from  paying  that 
duty  to  the  earl  which  he  probably  considered  as  belonging  to 
his  own  ofiice.  Foster  scowled  at  an  interference  which  seemed 
intended  to  prevent  his  paying  his  court  to  his  patron,  but  gave 
place  to  Varney  J  and  the  earl,  mounting  without  farther  ob- 
servation, and  forgetting  that  his  assumed  character  of  a  do- 
mestic threw  him  into  the  rear  of  his  supposed  master,  rode 
pensively  out  of  the  quadrangle,  not  without  waving  his  hand 
repeatedly  in  answer  to  the  signals  which  were  made  by  the 
countess  with  her  kerchief  from  the  windows  of  her  apartment. 

While  his  stately  form  vanished  under  the  dark  archway 
which  led  out  of  the  quadrangle,  Varney  muttered:  "There 
goes  fine  policy — the  servant  before  the  master!"  then,  as  he 
disappeared,  seized  the  moment  to  speak  a  word  with  Foster. 
"Thou  look'st  dark  on  me,  Anthony,"  he  said,  "as  if  I  had 
deprived  thee  of  a  parting  nod  of  my  lord ;  but  I  have  moved 
him  to  leave  thee  a  better  remembrance  for  thy  faithful  ser- 
vice. See  here !  a  purse  of  as  good  gold  as  ever  chinked  under 
a  miser's  thumb  and  forefinger.  Ay,  count  them,  lad,"  said 
he,  as  Foster  received  the  gold  with  a  grim  smile,  "  and  add 
to  them  the  goodly  remembrance  he  gave  last  night  to  Janet." 


KENILWORTH.  99 

"How's  this! — how's  this!"  said  Anthony  Foster,  hastily; 
"  gave  he  gold  to  Janet?" 

"Ay,  man,  wherefore  not?  does  not  her  service  to  his  fair 
lady  require  guerdon?" 

"  She  shall  have  none  on't,"  said  Foster:  " she  shall  return 
it.  I  know  his  dotage  on  one  face  is  as  brief  as  it  is  deep. 
His  affections  are  as  fickle  as  the  moon." 

"  Why,  Foster,  thou  art  mad ;  thou  dost  not  hope  for  such 
good  fortune  as  that  my  lord  should  cast  an  eye  on  Janet? 
Who,  in  the  fiend's  name,  would  listen  to  the  thrush  when 
the  nightingale  is  singing?" 

"  Thrush  or  nightingale,  all  is  one  to  the  fowler ;  and,  Mas- 
ter Varney,  you  can  sound  the  quail-pipe  most  daintily  to  wile 
wantons  into  his  nets.  I  desire  no  such  devil's  preferment  for 
Janet  as  you  have  brought  many  a  poor  maiden  to.  Dost 
thou  laugh?  I  will  keep  one  limb  of  my  family,  at  least,  from 
Satan's  clutches,  that  thou  mayst  rely  on.  She  shall  restore 
the  gold." 

"  Ay,  or  give  it  to  thy  keeping,  Tony,  which  will  serve  as 
well, "  answered  Varney ;  "  but  I  have  that  to  say  which  is 
more  serious.  Our  lord  is  returning  to  court  in  an  evil  humour 
for  us." 

"  How  meanest  thou?"  said  Foster.  "  Is  he  tired  already  of 
his  pretty  toy — his  plaything  yonder?  He  has  purchased  her 
at  a  monarch's  ransom,  and  I  warrant  me  he  rues  his  bargain." 

"Not  a  whit,  Tony,"  answered  the  master  of  the  horse; 
"  he  dotes  on  her,  and  will  forsake  the  court  for  her ;  then 
down  go  hopes,  possessions,  and  safety:  church  lands  are  re- 
sumed, Tony,  and  well  if  the  holders  be  not  called  to  account 
in  Exchequer." 

"  That  were  ruin, "  said  Foster,  his  brow  darkening  with  ap- 
prehensions ;  "  and  all  this  for  a  woman !  Had  it  been  for  his 
soul's  sake,  it  were  something;  and  I  sometimes  wish  I  myself 
could  fling  away  the  world  that  cleaves  to  me,  and  be  as  one 
of  the  poorest  of  our  church." 

"Thou  art  like  enough  to  be  so,  Tony,"  answered  Varney; 
"  but  I  think  the  devil  will  give  thee  little  credit  for  thy  com- 
pelled poverty,  and  so  thou  losest  on  all  hands.     But  follow 


100  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

my  counsel,  and  Cuninor  Place  shall  be  tliy  copyhold  yet. 
Say  nothing  of  this  Tressilian's  visit — not  a  word  until  I  give 
thee  notice." 

'' And  wherefore,  I  pray  you?"  asked  Foster,  suspiciously. 

"Dull  beast!"  replied  Varney ;  "in  my  lord's  present  hu- 
mour it  were  the  ready  way  to  confirm  him  in  his  resolution 
of  retirement,  should  he  know  that  his  lady  was  haunted 
with  such  a  spectre  in  his  absence.  He  would  be  for  playing 
the  dragon  himself  over  his  golden  fruit,  and  then,  Tony,  thy 
occupation  is  ended.  A  word  to  the  wise.  Farewell — I  must 
follow  him." 

He  turned  his  horse,  struck  him  with  the  spurs,  and  rode 
off  under  the  archway  in  pursuit  of  his  lord. 

"  Would  thy  occupation  were  ended,  or  thy  neck  broken, 
damned  pander!"  said  Anthony  Foster.  "But  I  must  follow 
his  beck,  for  his  interest  and  miae  are  the  same,  and  he  can 
wind  the  proud  earl  to  his  will.  Janet  shall  give  me  those 
pieces  though;  they  shall  be  laid  out  in  some  way  for  God's 
service,  and  I  will  keep  them  separate  in  my  strong  chest  till 
I  can  fall  upon  a  fitting  emplojrment  for  them.  No  contagious 
vapour  shall  breathe  on  Janet:  she  shall  remain  pure  as  a 
blessed  spirit,  were  it  but  to  pray  God  for  her  father.  I  need 
her  prayers,  for  I  am  at  a  hard  pass.  Strange  reports  are 
abroad  concerning  my  way  of  life.  The  congregation  look 
cold  on  me,  and  when  Master  Holdforth  spoke  of  hypo- 
crites being  like  a  whited  sepulchre,  which  within  was  full  of 
dead  men's  bones,  methought  he  looked  fuU  at  me.  The 
E-omish  was  a  comfortable  faith,  Lambourne  spoke  true  in 
that.  A  man  had  but  to  follow  his  thrift  by  such  ways 
as  offered — tell  his  beads — hear  a  mass — confess,  and  be  ab- 
solved. These  Puritans  tread  a  harder  and  a  rougher  path ; 
but  I  will  try — and  I  will  read  my  Bible  for  an  hour  ere  I 
again  open  mine  iron  chest." 

Varney,  meantime,  spurred  after  his  lord,  whom  he  found 
waiting  for  him  at  the  postern  gate  of  the  park. 

"  You  waste  time,  Varney, "  said  the  earl,  "  and  it  presses. 
I  must  be  at  Woodstock  before  I  can  safely  lay  aside  my  dis- 
guise, and  till  then  I  journey  in  some  peril." 


KENILWORTH.  101 

"It  is  but  two  hours'  brisk  riding,  my  lord,"  said  Varuey; 
"for  me,  I  only  stopped  to  enforce  your  commands  of  cai-e 
and  secrecy  on  yonder  Foster,  and  to  inquire  about  the  abode 
of  the  gentleman  whom  I  would  promote  to  your  lordship's 
train  in  the  room  of  Trevors." 

"  Is  he  fit  for  the  meridian  of  the  ante-chamber,  think' st 
thou?"  said  the  earl, 

" He  promises  well,  my  lord,"  replied  Varney;  "but  if  your 
lordship  were  pleased  to  ride  on,  I  could  go  back  to  Cumnor, 
and  bring  him  to  your  lordship  at  Woodstock  before  you  are 
out  of  bed." 

"  Why,  I  am  asleep  there,  thou  knowest,  at  this  moment, " 
said  the  earl ;  "  and  I  pray  you  not  to  spare  horse-flesh,  that 
you  may  be  with  me  at  my  levee." 

So  saying,  he  gave  his  horse  the  spur,  and  proceeded  on  his 
journey,  while  Varney  rode  back  to  Cumnor  by  the  public  road, 
avoiding  the  park.  The  latter  alighted  at  the  door  of  the  bonny 
Black  Bear,  and  desired  to  speak  with  Master  Michael  Lam- 
bourne.  That  respectable  character  was  not  long  of  appear- 
ing before  his  new  patron,  but  it  was  with  downcast  looks. 

"  Thou  hast  lost  the  scent, "  said  Varney,  "  of  thy  comrade 
Tressilian.  I  know  it  by  thy  hang-dog  visage.  Is  this  thy 
alacrity,  thou  impudent  knave?" 

"Cog's  wounds!"  said  Lambourne,  "there  was  never  a  trail 
so  finely  hunted.  I  saw  him  to  earth  at  mine  uncle's  here — • 
stuck  to  him  like  bees-wax — saw  him  at  supper — watched  him 
to  his  chamber,  and  presto — he  is  gone  next  morning,  the 
very  hostler  knows  not  where!" 

"  This  sounds  like  practice  upon  me,  sir, "  replied  Varney ; 
"and  if  it  prove  so,  by  my  soul  you  shall  repent  it!" 

"  Sir,  the  best  hound  will  be  sometimes  at  fault, "  answered 
Lambourne ;  "  how  should  it  serve  me  that  this  f eUow  should 
have  thus  vanished?  You  may  ask  mine  host,  Giles  Gosling — 
ask  the  tapster  and  hostler — aslc  Cicely,  and  the  whole  house- 
hold, how  I  kept  eyes  on  Tressilian  while  he  was  on  foot. 
On  my  soul,  I  could  not  be  expected  to  watch  him  like  a  sick- 
nurse,  when  I  had  seen  him  fairly  a-bed  in  his  chamber.  That 
will  be  allowed  me,  surely." 


102  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

Varney  did,  in  fact,  make  some  inquiry  among  the  house- 
hold, which  confirmed  the  truth  of  Lambourne's  statement. 
Tressilian,  it  was  unanimously  agreed,  had  departed  suddenly 
and  unexpectedly,  betwixt  night  and  morning. 

"  But  I  win  wrong  no  one,"  said  mine  host;  "he  left  on  the 
table  in  his  lodging  the  full  value  of  his  reckoning,  with  some 
allowance  to  the  servants  of  the  house,  which  was  the  less 
necessary  that  he  saddled  his  own  gelding,  as  it  seems,  with- 
out the  hostler's  assistance." 

Thus  satisfied  of  the  rectitude  of  Lambourne's  conduct, 
Varney  began  to  talk  to  him  upon  his  future  prospects  and  the 
mode  in  which  he  meant  to  bestow  himself,  intimating  that  he 
understood  from  Foster  he  was  not  disinclined  to  enter  into 
the  household  of  a  nobleman. 

"  Have  you,"  said  he,  " ever  been  at  court?" 

"No,"  replied  Lambourne;  "but  ever  since  I  was  ten  years 
old  I  have  dreamt  once  a  week  that  I  was  there,  and  made  my 
fortune. " 

"  It  may  be  your  own  fault  if  your  dream  comes  not  true, " 
said  Varney.     "  Are  you  needy?" 

"Um!"  replied  Lambourne ;  "I  love  pleasure." 

"  That  is  a  sufficient  answer,  and  an  honest  one, "  said  Var- 
ney. "  Know  you  aught  of  the  requisites  expected  from  the 
retainer  of  a  rising  courtier?" 

"I  have  imagined  them  to  myself,  sir,"  aniswered  Lam- 
bourne ;  "as,  for  example,  a  quick  eye,  a  close  mouth,  a  ready 
and  bold  hand,  a  sharp  wit,  and  a  blunt  conscience." 

"And  thine,  I  suppose,"  said  Varney,  "has  had  its  edge 
blunted  long  since?" 

"  I  cannot  remember,  sir,  that  its  edge  was  ever  over  keen," 
replied  Lambourne.  "  When  I  was  a  youth,  I  had  some  few 
whimsies,  but  I  rubbed  them  partly  out  of  my  recollection  on 
the  rough  grindstone  of  the  wars,  and  what  remained  I  washed 
out  in  the  broad  waves  of  the  Atlantic. " 

"Thou  hast  served,  then,  in  the  Indies?" 

"  In  both  East  and  West, "  answered  the  candidate  for  court 
service,  "  by  both  sea  and  land ;  I  have  served  both  the  Port- 
ugal and  the  Spaniard,  both  the  Dutchman  and  the  Frencli- 


KENILWORTH.  103 

man.  and  have  made  war  on  our  own  account  with,  a  crew  of 
J0II3"  fellows  who  held  there  was  no  peace  beyond  the  Line."  ' 

"  Thou  mayst  do  me,  and  my  lord,  and  thyself,  good  ser- 
vice, "  said  Varney,  after  a  pause,  "  But  observe,  I  know  the 
world,  and  answer  me  truly,  canst  thou  be  faithful?" 

"  Did  you  not  know  the  world, "  answered  Lambourne,  "  it 
were  my  duty  to  say  'ay,'  without  further  circumstance,  and 
to  swear  to  it  with  life  and  honour,  and  so  forth.  But  as  it 
seems  to  me  that  your  worship  is  one  who  desires  rather  honest 
ti'uth  than  politic  falsehood,  I  reply  to  you  that  I  can  be  faith- 
ful to  the  gallows'  foot,  ay,  to  the  loop  that  dangles  from  it, 
if  I  am  well  used  and  well  recompensed — not  otherwise. " 

"  To  thy  other  virtues  thou  canst  add,  no  doubt, "  said 
Varney,  in  a  jeering  tone,  "  the  knack  of  seeming  serious  and 
religious,  when  the  moment  demands  it?" 

"It  would  cost  me  nothing,"  said  Lambourne,  "to  say 'yes,* 
but  to  speak  on  the  square  I  must  needs  say  'no.'  If  you 
want  a  hypocrite,  you  may  take  Anthony  Foster,  who,  from 
his  childhood,  had  some  sort  of  phantom  haunting  him,  which 
he  called  religion,  though  it  was  that  sort  of  godliness  which 
always  ended  in  being  great  gain.  But  I  have  no  such  knack 
of  it." 

"  Well, "  replied  Varney,  "  if  thou  hast  no  hj-pocrisy,  hast 
thou  not  a  nag  here  in  the  stable?" 

"Ay,  sir,"  said  Lambourne,  "that  shall  take  hedge  and 
ditch  with  my  lord  duke's  best  hunters.  When  I  made  a 
little  mistake  on  Shooter's  Hill,  and  stopped  an  ancient  grazier 
whose  pouches  were  better  liaed  than  his  brain-pan,  the  bonny 
bay  nag  carried  me  sheer  off,  in  spite  of  the  whole  hue  and 
cry." 

"  Saddle  him  then,  instantly,  and  attend  me,"  said  Varney. 
"  Leave  thy  clothes  and  baggage  under  charge  of  mine  host, 
and  I  wUl  conduct  thee  to  a  service  in  which,  if  thou  do  not 
better  thyself,  the  fault  shall  not  be  fortune's,  but  thine  own." 

"Brave  and  hearty!"  said  Lambourne,  "and  I  am  mounted 
in  an  instant.     Knave,  hostler,  saddle  my  nag  without  the  loss 

*  Sir  Francis  Drake,  Morgan,  and  many  a  bold  buccanier  of  those  days, 
were,  in  fact,  little  better  than  pirates. 


104  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

of  one  second,  as  tliou  dost  value  the  safety  of  thy  noddle. 
Pretty  Cicely,  take  half  this  purse  to  comfort  thee  for  my 
sudden  departure." 

"Gogsnouns!"  replied  the  father,  "Cicely  wants  no  such 
token  from  thee.  Go  away,  Mike,  and  gather  grace  if  thou 
canst,  though  I  think  thou  goest  not  to  the  land  where  it 
grows." 

"  Let  me  look  at  this  Cicely  of  thine,  mine  host, "  said  Var- 
ney ;  "  I  have  heard  much  talk  of  her  beauty." 

"  It  is  a  sunburnt  beauty, "  said  mine  host,  "  well  qualified 
to  stand  out  rain  and  wind,  but  little  calculated  to  please  such 
critical  gallants  as  yourself.  She  keeps  her  chamber,  and 
cannot  encounter  the  glance  of  such  sunny-day  courtiers  as  my 
noble  guest." 

"  Well,  peace  be  with  her,  my  good  host, "  answered  Varney ; 
"  our  horses  are  impatient,  we  bid  you  good  day. " 

"Does  my  nephew  go  with  you,  so  please  you?"  said  Gos- 
ling. 

"  Ay,  such  is  his  purpose, "  answered  Richard  Varney. 

"  You  are  right — fully  right, "  replied  mine  host — "  you  are, 
I  say,  fully  right,  my  kinsman.  Thou  hast  got  a  gay  horse, 
see  thou  light  not  unaware  upon  a  halter;  or,  if  thou  wilt 
needs  be  made  immortal  by  means  of  a  rope,  which  thy  pur- 
pose of  following  this  gentleman  renders  not  unlikely,  I  charge 
thee  to  find  a  gallows  as  far  from  Cumnor  as  thou  conveniently 
mayst ;  and  so  I  commend  you  to  your  saddle. " 

The  master  of  the  horse  and  his  new  retainer  mounted 
accordingly,  leavmg  the  landlord  to  conclude  his  ill-omened 
farewell  to  himself  and  at  leisure ;  and  set  off  together  at  a 
rapid  pace,  which  prevented  conversation  until  the  ascent  of 
a  steep  sandy  hill  permitted  them  to  resume  it. 

"  You  are  contented,  then, "  said  Varney  to  his  companion, 
"to  take  court  service?" 

"  Ay,  worshipful  sir,  if  you  like  my  terms  as  well  as  I  like 
yours." 

"And  what  are  your  terms?"  demanded  Varney. 

"  If  I  am  to  have  a  quick  eye  for  my  patron's  interest,  he 
must  have  a  duU  one  towards  my  faults, "  said  Lambourne. 


KENILWORTH.  105 

"  Ay, "  said  Varney,  "  so  they  lie  not  so  grossly  open  that 
he  must  needs  break  his  shins  over  them." 

"  Agreed, "  said  Lambourne.  "  Next,  if  I  run  down  game, 
I  must  have  the  picking  of  the  bones." 

"  That  is  but  reason, "  replied  Varney,  *'  so  that  your  betters 
are  served  before  you." 

"  Good, "  said  Lambourne ;  "  and  it  only  remains  to  be  said, 
that  if  the  law  and  I  quarrel,  my  patron  must  bear  me  out,  for 
that  is  a  chief  point. " 

"Reason  again,"  said  Varney,  "if  the  quarrel  hath  hap- 
pened in  your  master's  service." 

"  For  the  wage  and  so  forth,  I  say  nothing, "  proceeded 
Lambourne;  " it  is  the  secret  guerdon  that  I  must  live  by." 

"  Never  fear, "  said  Varney ;  "  thou  shalt  have  clothes  and 
spending  money  to  ruffle  it  with  the  best  of  thy  degree,  for 
thou  goest  to  a  household  where  you  have  gold,  as  they  say, 
by  the  eye." 

"  That  jumps  all  with  my  humour, "  replied  Michael  Lam- 
bourne ;  "  and  it  only  remains  that  you  tell  me  my  master's 
name." 

"  My  name  is  Master  Richard  Varney, "  answered  his  com- 
panion. 

"But  I  mean,"  said  Lambourne,  "the  name  of  the  noble 
lord  to  whose  service  you  are  to  prefer  me." 

"  How,  knave,  art  thou  too  good  to  call  vie  master?"  said 
Varney,  hastily ;  "  I  would  have  thee  bold  to  others,  but  not 
saucy  to  me." 

"  I  crave  your  worship's  pardon, "  said  Lambourne ;  "  but 
you  seemed  familiar  with  Anthony  Foster,  now  I  am  familiar 
■with  Anthony  myself." 

"  Thou  art  a  shrewd  knave,  I  see, "  replied  Varney.  "  Mark 
me — I  do  indeed  propose  to  introduce  thee  into  a  nobleman's 
household ;  but  it  is  upon  my  person  thou  wilt  chiefly  wait,  and 
upon  my  countenance  that  thou  wilt  depend.  I  am  his  master 
of  horse.  Thou  wilt  soon  know  his  name;  it  is  one  that 
shakes  the  comicil  and  wields  the  state. " 

"  By  this  light,  a  brave  spell  to  conjure  with, "  said  Lam- 
bourne, "if  a  man  would  discover  hidden  treasures!" 


106  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

"Used  witli  discretion,  it  may  prove  so,"  replied  Yarney; 
*'  but  mark — if  thou  conjure  with  it  at  thine  OAvn  hand,  it  may 
raise  a  devil  who  will  tear  thee  in  fragments." 

"Enough  said,"  replied  Lambourne;  "I  will  not  exceed 
my  limits." 

The  travellers  then  resumed  the  rapid  rate  of  travelling 
which  their  discourse  had  interrupted,  and  soon  arrived  at  the 
royal  park  of  Woodstock.  This  ancient  possession  of  the 
crown  of  England  was  then  very  different  from  what  it  had 
been  when  it  was  the  residence  of  the  fair  Eosamond,  and  the 
scene  of  Henry  the  Second's  secret  and  illicit  amours ;  and  yet 
more  unlike  to  the  scene  which  it  exhibits  in  the  present  day, 
when  Blenheim  House  commemorates  the  victory  of  Marl- 
borough, and  no  less  the  genius  of  Vanburgh,  though  decried 
in  his  own  time  by  persons  of  taste  far  inferior  to  his  own.  It 
was,  in  Elizabeth's  time,  an  ancient  mansion  in  bad  repair, 
which  had  long  ceased  to  be  honoured  with  the  royal  resi- 
dence, to  the  great  impoverishment  of  the  adjacent  village. 
The  inhabitants,  however,  had  made  several  petitions  to  the 
Queen  to  have  the  favour  of  the  sovereign's  countenance  occa- 
siojially  bestowed  upon  themj  and  upon  this  very  business, 
ostensibly  at  least,  was  the  noble  lord  whom  we  have  already 
introduced  to  our  readers  a  visitor  at  Woodstock. 

Varney  and  Lambourne  galloped  without  ceremony  into  the 
courtyard  of  the  ancient  and  dilapidated  mansion,,  which  pre- 
sented on  that  morning  a  scene  of  bustle  which  it  had  not  ex- 
hibited for  two  reigns.  Officers  of  the  earl's  household, 
livery-men  and  retainers,  went  and  came  with  all  the  insolent 
fracas  which  attaches  to  their  profession.  The  neigh  of  horses 
and  the  baying  of  hounds  were  heard ;  for  my  lord,  in  his  oc- 
cupation of  inspecting  and  surveying  the  manor  and  demesne, 
was  of  course  provided  with  the  means  of  following  his  pleas- 
ure in  the  chase  or  park,  said  to  have  been  the  earliest  that 
was  inclosed  in  England,  and  which  was  well  stocked  with 
deer  that  had  long  roamed  there  unmolested.  Several  of  the 
inhabitants  of  the  village,  in  anxious  hope  of  a  favourable 
result  from  this  unwonted  visit,  loitered  about  the  courtj'ard, 
and  waited  the  great  man's  coming  forth.     Their  attentioa 


KENILWORTH.  10^ 

was  excited  by  the  hasty  arrival  of  Varney,  and  a  murniur  ran 
amongst  them,  "The  earl's  master  of  the  horse!"  while  they 
hurried  to  bespeak  favour  by  hastily  mibonneting  and  proffer- 
ing to  hold  the  bridle  and  stirrup  of  the  favoured  retainer  and 
his  attendant 

"Stand  somewhat  aloof,  my  masters!"  said  Varney, 
haughtily,  "and  let  the  domestics  do  their  office." 

The  mortified  citizens  and  peasants  fell  back  at  the  signal; 
while  Lambourne,  who  had  his  eye  upon  his  superior's  de- 
portment, repelled  the  services  of  those  who  offered  to  assist 
him  with  yet  more  discourtesy :  "  Stand  back,  Jack  peasant, 
with  a  murrain  to  you,  and  let  these  knave  footmen  do  their 
duty!" 

While  they  gave  their  nags  to  the  attendants  of  the  house- 
hold, and  walked  into  the  mansion  with  an  air  of  superiority 
which  long  practice  and  consciousness  of  birth  rendered  natural 
to  Varney,  and  which  Lambourne  endeavoured  to  imitate  as 
well  as  he  could,  the  poor  inhabitants  of  Woodstock  whispered 
to  each  other :  "  Well-a-day — God  save  us  from  all  such  mis- 
proud  princoxes!  An  the  master  be  like  the  men,  why,  the 
fiend  may  take  all,  and  yet  have  no  more  than  his  due." 

"Silence,  good  neighbours!"  said  the  bailiff,  "keep  tongue 
betwixt  teeth;  we  shall  know  more  by  and  by.  But  never 
will  a  lord  come  to  Woodstock  so  welcome  as  bluff  old  King 
Harry!  He  would  horsewhip  a  fellow  one  day  with  his  own 
royal  hand,  and  then  fling  him  an  handful  of  silver  groats, 
with  his  own  broad  face  on  them,  to  'noint  the  sore  withal." 

"Ay,  rest  be  with  him!"  echoed  the  auditors;  "it  will  be 
long  ere  this  Lady  Elizabeth  horsewhip  any  of  us." 

"  There  is  no  saying, "  answered  the  bailiff.  "  Meanwhile, 
patience,  good  neighbours,  and  let  us  comfort  ourselves  by 
thinking  that  we  deserve  such  notice  at  her  Grace's  hands." 

Meanwhile,  Varney,  closely  followed  by  his  new  dependent, 
made  his  way  to  the  hall,  where  men  of  more  note  and  conse- 
quence than  those  left  in  the  courtyard  awaited  the  appear- 
ance of  the  earl,  who  as  yet  kept  his  chamber.  All  paid  court 
to  Varney,  with  more  or  less  deference,  as  suited  their  own 
rank,  or  the  urgency  of  the  business  which  brought  them  to 


108  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

his  lord's  levee.  To  the  general  question  of,  "  When  comes 
my  lord  forth,  Master  Varney?"  he  gave  brief  answers,  as, 
"  See  you  not  my  boots?  I  am  but  just  returned  from  Oxford, 
and  know  nothing  of  it, "  and  the  like,  until  the  same  query 
was  put  in  a  higher  tone  by  a  personage  of  more  importance. 
"  I  will  inquire  of  the  chamberlain,  Sir  Thomas  Copely, "  was 
the  reply.  The  chamberlain,  distinguished  by  his  silver  key, 
answered,  that  the  earl  only  awaited  Master  Varney's  return 
to  come  down,  but  that  he  would  first  speak  with  him  in  his 
private  chamber.  Varney,  therefore,  bowed  to  the  company, 
and  took  leave  to  enter  his  lord's  apartment. 

There  was  a  murmur  of  expectation  which  lasted  a  few 
minutes,  and  was  at  length  hushed  by  the  opening  of  the 
folding- doors  at  the  upper  end  of  the  apartment,  through 
which  the  earl  made  his  entrance,  marshalled  by  his  chamber- 
lain and  the  steward  of  his  family,  and  followed  by  Richard 
Varney.  In  his  noble  mien  and  princely  features  men  read 
nothing  of  that  insolence  which  was  practised  by  his  depen- 
dants. His  courtesies  were,  indeed,  measured  by  the  rank  of 
those  to  whom  they  were  addressed,  but  even  the  meanest 
person  present  had  a  share  of  his  gracious  notice.  The  in- 
quiries which  he  made  respecting  the  condition  of  the  manor, 
of  the  Queen's  rights  there,  and  of  the  advantages  and  disad- 
vantages which  might  attend  her  occasional  residence  at  the 
royal  seat  of  Woodstock,  seemed  to  show  that  he  had  most 
earnestly  investigated  the  matter  of  the  petition  of  the  inhabi- 
tants, and  with  a  desire  to  forward  the  interest  of  the  place. 

"  Now  the  Lord  love  his  noble  countenance, "  said  the  bailiff, 
who  had  thrust  himself  into  the  presence-chamber;  "he  looks 
somewhat  pale.  I  warrant  him  he  hath  spent  the  whole  night 
in  perusing  our  memorial.  Master  Toughyarn,  who  took  six 
months  to  di-aw  it  up,  said  it  would  take  a  week  to  understand 
it;  and  see  if  the  earl  hath  not  knocked  the  marrow  out  of  it 
in  twenty-four  hours!" 

The  earl  then  acquainted  them  that  he  should  move  their 
sovereign  to  honour  Woodstock  occasionally  with  her  resi- 
dence during  her  royal  progresses,  that  the  town  and  its 
vicinity  might  derive  from  her  countenance  and  favour  the 


KENILWORTH.  109 

same  advantages  as  from  those  of  lier  predecessors.  Mean- 
•whiie,  he  rejoiced  to  be  the  expounder  of  her  gracious  pleas- 
ure, in  assuring  them  that,  for  the  increase  of  trade  and  en- 
couragement of  the  worthy  burgesses  of  Woodstock,  her 
Majesty  was  minded  to  erect  the  town  into  a  staple  for  wool. 

This  joyful  intelligence  was  received  with  the  acclamations 
not  only  of  the  better  sort  who  were  admitted  to  the  audience- 
chamber,  but  of  the  commons  who  awaited  without. 

The  freedom  of  the  corporation  was  presented  to  the  earl 
upon  knee  by  the  magistrates  of  the  place,  together  with  a 
purse  of  gold  pieces,  which  the  earl  handed  to  Varney,  who, 
on  his  part,  gave  a  share  to  Lambourne,  as  the  most  accept- 
able earnest  of  his  new  service. 

The  earl  and  his  retinvie  took  horse  soon  after  to  return  to 
court,  accompanied  by  the  shouts  of  the  inhabitants  of  Wood- 
stock, who  made  the  old  oaks  ring  with  re-echoing,  "  Long 
live  Queen  Elizabeth  and  the  noble  Earl  of  Leicester!"  The 
urbanity  and  courtesy  of  the  earl  even  threw  a  gleam  of  popu- 
larity over  his  attendants,  as  their  haughty  deportment  had 
formerly  obscured  that  of  their  master;  and  men  shouted, 
"  Long  life  to  the  earl  and  to  his  gallant  followers !"  as  Var- 
aey  and  Lambourne,  each  in  his  rank,  rode  proudly  through 
the  streets  of  Woodstock. 


CHAPTEE  VIII. 

Host,    I  will  hear  you,  Master  Fenton ; 
And  I  will,  at  least,  keep  your  counsel. 

Merry  Wives  of  Windsor. 

It  becomes  necessary  to  return  to  the  detail  of  those  cir- 
cumstances which  accompanied,  and  indeed  occasioned,  the 
sudden  disappearance  of  Tressilian  from  the  sign  of  the  Black 
Bear  at  Cumnor.  It  will  be  recollected  that  this  gentleman, 
after  his  rencounter  with  Varney,  had  returned  to  Giles  Gos- 
ling's caravansary,  where  he  shut  himself  up  in  his  own 
chamber,  demanded  pen,  ink,  and  paper,  and  announced  his 


110  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

purpose  to  remain  private  for  the  day.  In  the  evening  he 
appeared  again  in  the  public  room,  where  Michael  Lamboume^ 
who  had  been  on  the  watch  for  him,  agreeably  to  his  engage- 
laent  to  Varney,  endeavoured  to  renew  his  acquaintance  with 
him,  and  hoped  he  retained  no  unfriendly  recollection  of  the 
part  he  had  taken  in  the  morning  scuffle. 

But  Tressilian  repelled  his  advances  firmly,  though  with 
civility.  "Master  Lambourne,"  he  said,  "I  trust  I  have  rec- 
ompensed to  your  pleasure  the  time  you  have  wasted  on  me. 
Under  the  show  of  wild  bluntuess  which  you  exhibit,  I  know 
you  have  sense  enough  to  understand  me  when  I  say  frankly, 
that  the  object  of  our  temporary  acquaintance  having  been 
accomplished,  we  must  be  strangers  to  each  other  in  future." 

"  Voto  /  "  said  Lambourne,  twirling  his  whiskers  with  one 
hand,  and  grasping  the  hilt  of  his  weapon  with  the  other ;  "  if 
I  thought  that  this  usage  was  meant  to  insult  me " 

"  You  would  bear  it  with  discretion,  doubtless, "  interiiipted 
Tressilian,  "  as  you  must  do  at  any  rate.  You  know  too  well 
the  distance  that  is  betwixt  us  to  require  me  to  explain  myself 
farther.     Good  evening." 

So  saying,  he  turned  his  back  upon  his  former  companion, 
and  entered  into  discourse  with  the  landlord.  Michael  Lam- 
bourne felt  strongly  disposed  to  buUy;  but  his  wrath  died 
away  in  a  few  incoherent  oaths  and  ejaculations,  and  he  sank 
unresistingly  under  the  ascendency  which  superior  spirits 
possess  over  persons  of  his  habits  and  description.  He  re- 
mained moody  and  silent  in  a  corner  of  the  apartment,  paying 
the  most  marked  attention  to  every  motion  of  his  late  com- 
panion, against  whom  he  began  now  to  nourish  a  quarrel  on 
his  own  account,  which  he  trusted  to  avenge  by  the  execution 
of  his  new  master  Varney's  directions.  The  hour  of  supper 
arrived,  a,nd  was  followed  by  that  of  repose,  when  Tressilian, 
like  others,  retired  to  his  sleeping-apartment. 

He  had  not  been  in  bed  long,  when  the  train  of  sad  reveries, 
which  supplied  the  place  of  rest  in  his  disturbed  mind,  was 
suddenly  interrupted  by  the  jar  of  a  door  on  its  hinges,  and  a 
light  was  seen  to  glimmer  in  the  apartment.  Tressilian,  who 
was  as  brave  as  steel,  sprang  from  his  bed  at  this  alariUi  and 


KENILWORTH.  HI 

had  laid  hand  upon  his  sword,  when  he  was  prevented  from 
drawing  it  by  a  voice  which  said :  "  Be  not  too  rash  with  your 
rapier,  Master  Tressilian.     It  is  I,  your  host,  Giles  Gosling." 

At  the  same  time,  uushrouding  the  dark  lantern,  which  had 
hitherto  only  emitted  an  indistinct  glimmer,  the  goodly  aspect 
and  figure  of  the  landlord  of  the  Black  Bear  was  visibly  pre- 
sented to  his  astonished  guest. 

"^Vhat  mummery  is  this,  mine  host?"  said  Tressilian. 
"  Have  you  supped  as  jollily  as  last  night,  and  so  mistaken 
your  chamber?  or  is  midnight  a  time  for  masquerading  it  in 
your  guest's  lodging?" 

"  Master  Tressilian, "  replied  mine  host,  "  I  know  my  place 
and  my  time  as  well  as  e'er  a  merry  landlord  in  England. 
But  here  has  been  my  hang-dog  kinsman  watching  you  as 
close  as  ever  cat  watched  a  mouse ;  and  here  have  you,  on 
the  other  hand,  quarrelled  and  fought,  either  with  him  or  with 
some  other  person,  and  I  fear  that  danger  will  come  of  it." 

"Go  to,  thou  art  but  a  fool,  man,"  said  Tressilian;  "thy 
kinsman  is  beneath  my  resentment ;  and,  besides,  why  shouldst 
thou  think  I  had  quarrelled  with  any  one  whomsoever?" 

"  Oh !  sir, "  replied  the  innkeeper,  "  there  was  a  red  spot  on 
thy  very  cheek-bone,  which  boded  of  a  late  brawl,  as  sure  as 
the  conjimetion  of  Mars  and  Saturn  threatens  misfortune; 
and  when  you  returned,  the  buckles  of  your  girdle  were 
brought  forward,  and  your  step  was  quick  and  hasty,  and  all 
things  showed  your  hand  and  your  hilt  had  been  lately  ac- 
quainted." 

"  Well,  good  mine  host,  if  I  have  been  obliged  to  draw  my 
sword,"  said  Tressilian,  "why  should  such  a  circumstance 
fetch  thee  out  of  thy  warm  bed  at  this  time  of  night?  Thou 
seest  the  mischief  is  all  over." 

"  Under  favour,  that  is  what  I  doubt.  Anthony  Foster  is 
a  dangerous  man,  defended  by  strong  court  patronage,  which 
hath  borne  him  out  in  matters  of  very  deep  concernment. 
And  then  my  kinsman — why,  I  have  told  you  what  he  is; 
and  if  these  two  old  cronies  have  made  up  their  old  acquaint- 
ance, I  woidd  not,  my  worshipful  guest,  that  it  should  be  at 
thy  cost.     I  promise  you,  Mike  Lamboume  has  been  making 


112  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

very  particular  inquiries  at  my  hostler,  when  and  which  way 
you  ride.  New,  I  would  have  you  think,  whether  you  may 
not  have  done  or  said  something  for  which  you  may  be  way- 
laid and  taken  at  disadvantage." 

"  Thou  art  an  honest  man,  mine  host, "  said  Tressilian,  after 
a  moment's  consideration,  "  and  I  will  deal  frankly  with  thee. 
If  these  men's  malice  is  directed  against  me — as  I  deny  not 
but  it  may — it  is  because  they  are  the  agents  of  a  more  power- 
ful villain  than  themselves." 

"  You  mean  Master  Richard  Varney,  do  you  not?"  said  the 
landlord ;  *'  he  was  at  Cumnor  Place  yesterday,  and  came  not 
thither  so  private  but  what  he  was  espied  by  one  who  told  me." 

"I  mean  the  same,  mine  host." 

"Then,  for  God's  sake,  worshipful  Master  Tressilian,"  said 
the  honest  Gosling,  "  look  well  to  yourself.  This  Varney  is  the 
protector  and  patron  of  Anthony  Foster,  who  holds  under  him, 
and  by  his  favour,  some  lease  of  yonder  mansion  and  the  park. 
Varney  got  a  large  grant  of  the  lands  of  the  abbacy  of  Abing- 
don, and  Cumnor  Place  amongst  others,  from  his  master,  the 
Earl  of  Leicester.  Men  say  he  can  do  everything  with  him, 
though  I  hold  the  earl  too  good  a  nobleman  to  employ  him  as 
some  men  talk  of.  And  then  the  earl  can  do  anything — that 
is,  anything  right  or  fitting — with  the  Queen,  God  bless  her! 
so  you  see  what  an  enemy  you  have  made  to  yourself." 

"Well,  it  is  done,  and  I  cannot  help  it,"  answered  Tres- 
silian. 

"  Uds  precious,  but  it  must  be  helped  in  some  manner, "  said 
the  host.  "  Richard  Varney — why,  what  between  his  influ- 
ence with  my  lord,  and  his  pretending  to  so  many  old  and 
vexatious  claims  in  right  of  the  abbot  here,  men  fear  almost 
to  mention  his  name,  much  more  to  set  themselves  against  his 
practices.  You  may  judge  by  our  discourses  the  last  night. 
Men  said  their  pleasure  of  Tony  Poster,  but  not  a  word  of 
Richard  Varney,  though  all  men  judge  him  to  be  at  the  bottom 
of  yonder  mystery  about  the  pretty  wench.  But  perhaps  you 
know  more  of  that  matter  than  I  do,  for  women,  though  they 
"wear  not  swords,  are  occasion  for  many  a  blade's  exchanging 
a  sheath  of  neat's  leather  for  one  of  flesh  and  blood." 


KENILWORTH.  113 

"  I  do  indeed  know  more  of  that  poor  unfortunate  lady  than 
thou  dost,  my  friendly  host ;  and  so  bankrupt  am  I,  at  this 
moment,  of  friends  and  advice,  that  I  will  willingly  make  a 
counsellor  of  thee,  and  tell  thee  the  whole  history,  the  rather 
that  I  have  a  favour  to  ask  when  my  tale  is  ended." 

"  Good  Master  Tressilian, "  said  the  landlord,  "  I  am  but  a 
poor  inakeeper,  little  able  to  adjust  or  counsel  such  a  guest 
as  yourseK.  But  as  sure  as  I  have  risen  decently  above  the 
world  by  giving  good  measure  and  reasonable  charges,  I  am 
an  honest  man ;  and  as  such,  if  I  may  not  be  able  to  assist 
you,  I  am,  at  least,  not  capable  to  abuse  your  confidence. 
Say  away,  therefore,  as  confidently  as  if  you  spoke  to  your 
father ;  and  thus  far  at  least  be  certain,  that  my  curiosity,  for 
I  will  not  deny  that  which  belongs  to  my  calling,  is  joined  to 
a  reasonable  degree  of  discretion." 

"  I  doubt  it  not,  mine  host, "  answered  Tressilian ;  and  while 
his  auditor  remained  in  anxious  expectation,  he  meditated  for 
an  instant  how  he  should  commence  his  narrative.  "  My  tale," 
he  at  length  said,  "  to  be  quite  intelligible,  must  begin  at  some 
distance  back.  You  have  heard  of  the  battle  of  Stoke,  my 
good  host,  and  perhaps  of  old  Sir  Roger  Robsart,  who,  in  that 
battle,  valiantly  took  part  with  Henry  VII.,  the  Queen's 
grandfather,  and  routed  the  Earl  of  Lincoln,  Lord  Geraldin 
and  his  wild  Irish,  and  the  Flemings  whom  the  Duchess 
of  Burgundy  had  sent  over,  in  the  quarrel  of  Lambert 
Simnel?" 

"  I  remember  both  one  and  the  other, "  said  Giles  Gosling, 
**  it  is  sung  of  a  dozen  times  a  week  on  my  ale-bench  below. 
Sir  Roger  Robsart  of  Devon :  Oh,  ay,  'tis  him  of  whom  min- 
Btrels  sing  to  this  hour : 

He  was  the  flower  of  Stoke's  red  field, 
When  Martin  Swart  on  ground  lay  slain; 

In  raging  rout  he  never  reel'd, 
But  like  a  rock  did  firm  remain. 

Ay,  and  then  there  was   Martin   Swart  I  have  heard   my 
grandfather  talk  of,  and  of  the  jolly  Almains  whom  he  com* 
manded,  with  their   slashed  doublets   and   quaint  hose,   all 
8 


114  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

frounced  with  ribands  above  tbe  netliei-stocks.     Here's  a  song 
goes  of  Martin  Swart,  too,  an  I  had  bat  memory  for  it : 

Martin  Swart  and  his  men. 

Saddle  them,  saddle  them ; 
Martin  Swart  and  his  men, 

Saddle  them  well."  « 

"True,  good  mine  host — the  day  was  long  talked  of;  but, 
if  you  sing  so  loud,  you  will  awake  more  listeners  than  I  care 
to  commit  my  confidence  unto." 

*'  I  crave  pardon,  my  worshipful  guest, "  said  mine  host,  "  I 
was  oblivious.  When  an  old  song  comes  across  us  merry  old 
knights  of  the  spigot,  it  runs  away  with  our  discretion. " 

"  Well,  mine  host,  my  grandfather,  like  some  other  Cornish- 
men,  kept  a  warm  affection  to  the  house  of  York,  and  espoused 
the  quarrel  of  this  Simnel,  assumuig  the  title  of  Earl  of  War- 
wick, as  the  county  afterwards,  in  great  numbers,  counte- 
nanced the  cause  of  Perkin  Warbeck,  calling  himself  the  Duke 
of  York.  My  grandsire  joined  Sinmel's  standard,  and  was 
taken  fighting  desperately  at  Stoke,  where  most  of  the  leaders 
of  that  imhappy  army  were  slain  in  their  harness.  The  good 
knight  to  whom  he  rendered  himseK,  Sir  Roger  Robsart,  pro- 
tected him  from  the  immediate  vengeance  of  the  king,  and 
dismissed  him  without  ransom.  But  he  was  unable  to  guard 
him  from  other  penalties  of  his  rashness,  being  the  heavy 
fines  by  which  he  was  impoverished,  according  to  Henry's 
mode  of  weakening  his  enemies.  The  good  knight  did  what 
he  might  to  mitigate  the  distresses  of  my  ancestor ;  and  their 
friendship  became  so  strict  that  my  father  was  bred  up  as  the 
sworn  brother  and  intimate  of  the  present  Sir  Hugh  Robsart, 
the  only  son  of  Sir  Roger,  and  the  heir  of  his  honest,  and 
generous,  and  hospitable  temper,  though  not  equal  to  him  in 
martial  achievements." 

"  I  have  heard  of  good  Sir  Hugh  Robsart, "  interrupted  the 
host,  "  many  a  time  and  oft.  His  huntsman  and  sworn  ser- 
vant, Will  Badger,  hath  spoke  of  him  an  hundred  times  in 
this  very  house — a  jovia,l  knight  he  is,  and  hath  loved  hos- 

«  See  Martin  Swart.    Note  3, 


KENILWORTH.  115 

pitality  and  open  housekeeping  more  than  the  present  fashion, 
which  lays  as  much  gold  lace  on  the  seams  of  a  doublet  as 
would  feed  a  dozen  of  tall  fellows  with  beef  and  ale  for  a 
twelvemonth,  and  let  them  have  their  evening  at  the  ale- 
house once  a  week,  to  do  good  to  the  publican. " 

"  If  you  have  seen  Will  Badger,  mine  host, "  said  Tressilian, 
"  you  have  heard  enough  of  Sir  Hugh  Robsart ;  and  therefore 
I  will  but  say,  that  the  hospitality  you  boast  of  hath  proved 
somewhat  detrimental  to  the  estate  of  his  family,  which  is 
perhaps  of  the  less  consequence,  as  he  has  but  one  daughter  to 
whom  to  bequeath  it.  And  here  begins  my  share  in  the  tale. 
Upon  my  father's  death,  now  several  years  since,  the  good 
Sir  Hugh  would  willingly  have  made  me  his  constant  com- 
panion. There  was  a  time,  however,  at  which  I  felt  the  kind 
knight's  excessive  love  for  field-sports  detained  me  from  studies 
by  which  I  might  have  profited  more ;  but  I  ceased  to  regret 
the  leisure  which  gratitude  and  hereditary  friendship  compelled 
me  to  bestow  on  these  rural  avocations.  The  exquisite  beauty 
of  Mistress  Amy  Robsart,  as  she  grew  up  from  childhood  to 
woman,  could  not  escape  one  whose  circumstances  obliged  to 
be  so  constantly  in  her  company.  I  loved  her,  in  short,  mine 
host,  and  her  father  saw  it." 

"And  crossed  your  true  loves,  no  doubt?"  said  mine  host. 
"It  is  the  way  in  all  such  cases;  and  I  judge  it  must  have 
been  so  in  your  instance,  from  the  heavy  sigh  you  uttered  even 
now." 

"  The  case  was  different,  mine  host.  My  suit  was  highly 
approved  by  the  generous  Sir  Hugh  Robsart;  it  was  his 
daughter  who  was  cold  to  my  passion. " 

"  She  was  the  more  dangerous  enemy  of  the  two,"  said  the 
innkeeper.     "  I  fear  me  your  suit  proved  a  cold  one." 

"She  yielded  me  her  esteem,"  said  Tressilian,  "and 
seemed  not  unwiUing  that  I  should  hope  it  might  ripen  into  a 
warmer  passion.  There  was  a  contract  of  future  marriage 
executed  betwixt  us,  upon  her  father's  intercession;  but,  to 
comply  with  her  anxious  request,  the  execution  was  deferred 
for  a  twelvemonth.  During  this  period^  Richard  Varney  ap- 
peared in  the  country,  and,  availing  himself  of  some  distant 


116  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

family  connexion  witli  Sir  Hugh  Bobsart,  spent  much  of  his 
time  in  his  company,  until,  at  length,  he  almost  lived  in  the 
family." 

"  That  could  bode  no  good  to  the  place  he  honoured  with 
his  residence,"  said  Gosling. 

"No,  by  the  rood!"  replied  Tressilian.  "Misunderstand- 
ing and  misery  followed  his  presence,  yet  so  strangely,  that  I 
am  at  this  moment  at  a  loss  to  trace  the  gradations  of  their 
encroachment  upon  a  family  which  had,  till  then,  been  so 
happy.  For  a  time  Amy  Kobsart  received  the  attentions  of 
this  man  Varney  with  the  indifference  attached  to  common 
courtesies ;  then  followed  a  period  in  which  she  seemed  to  re- 
gard him  with  dislike,  and  even  with  disgust ;  and  then  an 
extraordinary  species  of  connection  appeared  to  grow  up  be- 
twixt them.  Varney  dropped  those  airs  of  pretension  and 
gallantry  which  had  marked  his  former  approaches ;  and  Amy, 
on  the  other  hand,  seemed  to  renounce  the  ill-disguised  dis- 
gust with  which  she  had  regarded  them.  They  seemed  to 
have  more  of  privacy  and  confidence  together  than  I  fully 
liked;  and  I  suspected  that  they  met  in  private,  where  there 
was  less  restraint  than  in  our  presence.  Many  circumstances, 
which  I  noticed  but  little  at  the  time — for  I  deemed  her  heart 
as  open  as  her  angelic  countenance — have  since  arisen  on  my 
memory,  to  convince  me  of  their  private  understanding.  But 
I  need  not  detail  them — the  fact  speaks  for  itself.  She  van- 
ished from  her  father's  house — Varney  disappeared  at  the 
eame  time ;  and  this  very  day  I  have  seen  her  in  the  character 
of  his  paramour,  living  in  the  house  of  his  sordid  dependant 
Foster,  and  visited  by  him,  muffled,  and  by  a  secret  entrance." 

"And  this,  then,  is  the  cause  of  your  quarrel?  Methinks, 
you  should  have  been  sure  that  the  fair  lady  either  desired 
or  deserved  your  interference." 

"Mine  host,"  answered  Tressilian,  "my  father,  such  I 
must  ever  consider  Sir  Hugh  Eobsart,  sits  at  home  struggling 
with,  his  grief,  or,  if  so  far  recovered,  vainly  attempting  to 
drown,  in  the  practice  of  his  field-sports,  the  recollection  that 
he  had  once  a  daughter — a  recollection  which  ever  and  anon 
breaks  from  him  under  circumstances  the  most  pathetic.     I 


KENILWORTH.  HT 

could  not  brook  the  idea  that  he  should  live  in  misery  and 
Amy  in  guilt;  and  I  endeavoured  to  seek  her  out,  with  tn» 
hope  of  inducing  her  to  return  to  her  family.  I  have  found 
her,  and  when  I  have  either  succeeded  in  my  attempt  or  have 
found  it  altogether  unavailing,  it  is  my  purpose  to  embark  for 
the  Virginia  voyage." 

"Be  not  so  rash,  good  sir,"  replied  Giles  Gosling;  "and 
cast  not  yourself  away  because  a  woman — to  be  brief — is  a 
woman,  and  changes  her  lovers  like  her  suit  of  ribands,  with 
no  better  reason  than  mere  fantasy.  And  ere  we  probe  this 
matter  further,  let  me  ask  you  what  circumstances  of  suspicion 
directed  you  so  truly  to  this  lady's  residence,  or  rather  to  her 
place  of  concealment?" 

"The  last  is  the  better  chosen  word,  mine  host,"  answered 
Tressilian ;  "  and  touching  your  question,  the  knowledge  that 
Varney  held  large  grants  of  the  demesnes  formerly  belonging' 
to  the  monks  of  Abiugdon  directed  me  to  this  neighbourhood ; 
and  your  nephew's  visit  to  his  old  comrade  Foster  gave  me 
the  means  of  conviction  on  the  subject." 

"And  what  is  now  your  purpose,  worthy  sir? — excuse  my 
freedom  in  asking  the  question  so  broadly." 

"  I  purpose,  mine  host, "  said  Tressilian,  "  to  renew  my  visit 
to  the  place  of  her  residence  to-morrow,  and  to  seek  a  more 
detailed  communication  with  her  than  I  have  had  to-day. 
She  must  iudeed  be  widely  changed  from  what  she  once  waa 
if  my  words  make  no  impression  upon  her. " 

"  Under  your  favour.  Master  TressUian, "  said  the  landlord, 
"  you  can  follow  no  such  course.  The  lady,  if  I  understand 
you,  has  already  rejected  your  interference  in  the  matter." 

"It  is  but  too  true,"  said  Tressilian;  "  I  cannot  deny  it.'* 

"  Then,  marry,  by  what  right  or  interest  do  you  process  a 
compulsory  interference  with  her  inclination,  disgraceful  as  it 
may  be  to  herself  and  to  her  parents?  Unless  my  judgment 
gulls  me,  those  under  whose  protection  she  has  thi-own  herself 
would  have  small  hesitation  to  reject  your  interference,  even 
if  it  were  that  of  a  father  or  brother ;  but  as  a  discarded  lover 
you  expose  yourself  to  be  repelled  with  the  strong  hand,  as 
well  as  with  scorn.     You  can  apply  to  no  magistrate  for  aid 


118  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

or  countenance;  and  you  are  hunting,  therefore,  a  shadow  in 
water,  and  will  only — excuse  my  plainness — come  by  ducking 
and  danger  in  attempting  to  catch  it. " 

"  I  will  appeal  to  the  Earl  of  Leicester, "  said  Tressilian, 
"  against  the  infamy  of  his  favourite.  He  courts  the  severe 
and  strict  sect  of  Puritans.  He  dare  not,  for  the  sake  of  his 
own  character,  refuse  my  appeal,  even  although  he  were  des- 
titute of  the  principles  of  honour  and  nobleness  with  which 
fame  invests  him.     Or  I  will  ap]3eal  to  the  Queen  herself." 

"  Should  Leicester, "  said  the  landlord,  "  be  disposed  to  pro- 
tect his  dependant,  as  indeed  he  is  said  to  be  very  confidential 
with  Varney,  the  appeal  to  the  Queen  may  bring  them  both  to 
reason.  Her  Majesty  is  strict  in  such  matters,  and — if  it  bC 
not  treason  to  speak  it — ^will  rather,  it  is  said,  pardon  a  dozeu 
courtiers  for  falling  in  love  with  herself  than  one  for  giving 
preference  to  another  woman.  Corragio  then,  my  brave  guest! 
for,  if  thou  layest  a  petition  from  Sir  Hugh  at  the  foot  of  the 
throne,  bucklered  by  the  story  of  thine  own  wrongs,  the  fa- 
vourite earl  dared  as  soon  leap  into  the  Thames  at  the  fullest 
and  deepest  as  offer  to  protect  Varney  in  a  cause  of  this  nature. 
But  to  do  this  with  any  chance  of  success  you  must  go  for- 
mally to  work ;  and,  without  staying  here  to  tilt  with  the  mas- 
ter of  horse  to  a  privy-councillor,  and  expose  yourself  to  the 
dagger  of  his  cameradoes,  you  should  hie  you  to  Devonshire, 
get  a  petition  drawn  up  for  Sir  Hugh  Robsart,  and  make  as 
many  friends  as  you  can  to  forward  your  interest  at  court." 

"  You  have  spoken  well,  mine  host, "  said  Tressilian,  "  and 
I  will  profit  by  your  advice,  and  leave  you  to-morrow  early. " 

"  Nay,  leave  me  to-night,  sir,  before  to-morrow  comes, "  said 
the  landlord.  "I  never  prayed  for  a  guest's  arrival  more 
eagerly  than  I  do  to  have  you  safely  gone.  My  kinsman's 
destiny  is  most  like  to  be  hanged  for  something,  but  I  would 
not  that  the  cause  were  the  murder  of  an  honoured  guest  of 
mine  'Better  ride  safe  in  the  dark,'  says  the  proverb,  'than 
in  daylight  with  a  cut -throat  at  your  elbow.'  Come,  sir,  I 
move  you  for  your  own  safety.  Your  horse  and  all  is  ready, 
and  here  is  your  score." 

"It  is  somewhat  under  a  noble,"  said  Tressilian,  giving  one 


KENILWORTH.  119 

to  the  host ;  "  give  tihe  balance  to  prettj  Cicely,  your  daughter, 
and  the  servants  of  the  house. " 

"  They  shall  taste  of  your  bounty,  sir, "  said  Grosling,  "  and 
you  should  taste  of  my  daughter's  lips  in  grateful  acknowl- 
edgment, but  at  this  hour  she  cannot  grace  the  porch  to  greet 
your  departure." 

"  Do  not  trust  your  daughter  too  far  with  your  guests,  my 
good  landlord,"  said  Tressilian. 

"  Oh,  sir,  we  will  keep  measui-e ;  but  I  wonder  not  that  you 
are  jealous  of  them  all.  May  I  crave  to  know  with  what 
aspect  the  fair  lady  at  the  Place  j^esterday  received  you?" 

"  I  own, "  said  Tressilian,  "  it  was  angry  as  well  as  confused, 
and  affords  me  little  hope  that  she  is  yet  awakened  from  her 
unhappy  delusion." 

*^In  that  case,  sir,  I  see  not  why  you  should  play  the  cham- 
pion of  a  wench  that  will  none  of  you,  and  incur  the  resent- 
ment of  a  favourite's  favourite,  as  dangerous  a  monster  as  ever 
a  knight  adventurer  encountered  in  the  old  story-books. " 

"You  do  me  wi-ong  in  the  supposition,  mine  host — gross 
wrong,"  said  Tressilian;  "I  do  not  desire  that  Amy  should 
ever  turn  thought  upon  me  more.  Let  me  but  see  her  restored 
to  her  father,  and  all  I  have  to  do  in  Europe — j)erhaps  in  the 
■world — is  over  and  ended." 

"  A  wiser  resolution  were  to  drink  a  cup  of  sack,  and  forget 
her,"  said  the  landlord.  "But  five-and-twenty  and  iifty  look 
on  those  matters  with  different  eyes,  especially  when  one  case 
of  peepers  is  set  in  the  skull  of  a  young  gallant  and  the  other 
in  that  of  an  old  publican.  I  pity  you,  Master  TressUian^^ 
but  I  see  not  how  I  can  aid  you  in  the  matter. " 

"Only  thus  far,  mine  host,"  replied  Tressilian.  "Keep  a 
watch  on  the  motions  of  those  at  the  Place,  which  thou  canst 
easily  learn  without  siTspicion,  as  all  men's  news  fly  to  the  ale- 
bench;  and  be  pleased  to  communicate  the  tidings  in  Avi-iting 
to  such  person,  and  to  no  other,  who  shall  bring  you  this  ring 
as  a  special  token ;  look  at  it — it  is  of  value,  and  I  will  freely 
bestow  it  on  you." 

"  Kay,  sir, "  said  the  landlord,  "  I  desire  no  recompense ;  but 
it  seems  an  unadvised  course  iu  me,  being  in  a  public  line,  to 


120  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

connect  myself  in  a  matter  of  this  dark  and  perilous  nature. 
I  have  no  interest  in  it." 

"  You,  and  every  father  in  the  land,  who  would  have  his 
daughter  released  from  the  snares  of  shame,  and  sin,  and  mis- 
ery, have  an  interest  deeper  than  aught  concerning  earth  only 
could  create." 

"  Well,  sir, "  said  the  host,  "  these  are  brave  words ;  and  I  do 
pity  from  my  soul  the  frank-hearted  old  gentleman,  who  has 
ministered  his  estate  in  good  housekeeping  for  the  honour  of 
his  country,  and  now  has  his  daughter,  who  should  be  the  stay 
of  his  age,  and  so  forth,  whisked  up  by  such  a  kite  as  this 
Varney.  And  though  your  part  in  the  matter  is  somewhat  of 
the  wildest,  yet  I  will  e'en  be  a  madcap  for  company,  and  help 
you  in  your  honest  attempt  to  get  back  the  good  man's  child, 
so  far  as  being  your  faithful  intelligencer  can  serve.  And  as 
I  shall  be  true  to  you,  I  pray  you  to  be  trusty  to  me,  and  keep 
my  secret ;  for  it  were  bad  for  the  custom  of  the  Black  Bear, 
should  it  be  said  the  bear-warder  interfered  in  such  matters. 
Varney  has  interest  enough  with  the  justices  to  dismount  my 
noble  emblem  from  the  post  on  which  he  swings  so  gallantly, 
to  call  in  my  license,  and  ruin  me  from  garret  to  cellar." 

"  Do  not  doubt  my  secrecy,  mine  host, "  said  Tressilian ;  "  I 
will  retain,  besides,  the  deepest  sense  of  thy  service,  and  of 
the  risk  thou  dost  run ;  remember  the  ring  is  my  sure  token. 
And  now,  farewell ;  for  it  was  thy  wise  advice  that  I  should 
tarry  here  as  short  a  time  as  may  be." 

"  Follow  me,  then,  sir  guest, "  said  the  landlord,  "  and  tread 
as  gently  as  if  eggs  were  under  your  foot  instead  of  deal 
boards.     No  man  must  know  when  or  how  you  departed." 

By  the  aid  of  his  dark  lantern  he  conducted  Tressilian,  as 
soon  as  he  had  made  himseK  ready  for  his  journey,  through  a 
long  intricacy  of  passages,  which  opened  to  an  outer  court, 
and  from  thence  to  a  remote  stable,  where  he  had  already 
placed  his  guest's  horse.  He  then  aided  him  to  fasten  on  the 
saddle  the  small  portmantle  which  contained  his  necessaries, 
opened  a  postern  dooi*,  and  with  a  hearty  shake  of  the  hand, 
and  a  reiteration  of  his  promise  to  attend  to  what  went  on  at 
Cunmor  Place,  he  dismissed  his  guest  to  his  solitary  journey. 


KENILWORTa  121 


CHAPTER  IX. 

Far  in  the  lane  a  lonely  hut  he  found, 
No  tenant  ventured  on  the  unwholesome  ground  : 
Here  smokes  his  forge,  he  bares  his  sinewy  arm, 
And  early  strokes  the  sounding  anvil  warm ; 
'  Around  his  shop  the  steely  sparkles  flew, 

As  for  the  steed  he  shaped  the  bending  shoe. 

Gay's  Trivia. 

As  it  "was  deemed  proper  by  the  traveller  himself,  as  "well 
as  by  Giles  Gosling,  that  Tressilian  should  avoid  being  seen 
in  the  neighbourhood  of  Cumnor  by  those  whom  accident 
might  make  early  risers,  the  landlord  had  given  him  a  route, 
consisting  of  various  bye-ways  and  lanes,  which  he  was  to 
follow  in  succession,  and  which,  all  the  turns  and  short-cuts 
duly  observed,  was  to  conduct  him  to  the  public  road  to  Marl- 
borough. 

But,  like  counsel  of  every  other  kind,  this  species  of  direc- 
tion is  much  more  easily  given  than  followed ;  and  what  be- 
twixt the  intricacy  of  the  way,  the  darkness  of  the  night, 
Tressilian' s  ignorance  of  the  country,  and  the  sad  and  per- 
plexing thoughts  with  which  he  had  to  contend,  his  journey 
proceeded  so  slowly  that  morning  found  him  only  in  the  Vale 
of  Whitehorse,  memorable  for  the  defeat  of  the  Danes  in 
former  days,  with  his  horse  deprived  of  a  forefoot  shoe — an 
accident  which  threatened  to  put  a  stop  to  his  journey  by  lam- 
ing the  animal.  The  residence  of  a  smith  was  his  first  object 
of  inquiry,  in  which  he  received  little  satisfaction  from  the 
dulness  or  suUenness  of  one  or  two  peasants,  early  bound  for 
their  labour,  who  gave  brief  and  indifferent  answers  to  his 
questions  on  the  subject.  Anxious  at  length  that  the  partner 
of  his  journey  should  suffer  as  little  as  jjossible  from  the  un- 
fortunate accident,  Tressilian  dismounted,  and  led  his  horse 
in  the  direction  of  a  little  hamlet,  where  he  hoped  either  to 
find  or  hear  tidings  of  such  an  artificer  as  he  now  wanted. 
Through  a  deep  and  muddy  lane,  he  at  length  waded  on  to  the 
place,  which  proved  only  an  assemblage  of  five  or  six  miser- 


122  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

able  huts,  about  tbe  doors  of  wbich  one  or  two  persons,  whose 
appearance  seemed  as  rude  as  that  of  their  dwellings,  were  be- 
ginning the  toils  of  the  day.  One  cottage,  however,  seemed 
of  rather  superior  aspect,  and  the  old  dame,  who  was  sweeping 
her  threshold,  appeared  something  less  rude  than  her  neigh- 
bours. To  her  Tressilian  addressed  the  oft-repeated  question, 
■whether  there  was  a  smith  in  this  neighbourhood,  or  any  place 
where  he  could  refresh  his  horse?  The  dame  looked  him  in 
the  face  with  a  peculiar  expression,  as  she  replied:  "Smith I 
ay,  truly  is  there  a  smith;  what  wouldst  ha'  wi'  un,  mon?" 

"  To  shoe  my  horse,  good  dame,"  answered  Tressilian;  "you 
may  see  that  he  has  thrown  a  forefoot  shoe." 

"Master  Holiday!"  exclaimed  the  dame,  without  returning 
any  direct  answer — "Master  Herasmus  Holiday,  come  and 
speak  to  mon,  and  please  you. " 

^^ Favete  Unguis,"  answered  a  voice  from  within;  "I  cannot 
now  come  forth.  Gammer  Sludge,  being  in  the  very  sweetest 
bit  of  my  morning  studies." 

"  Nay,  but,  good  now.  Master  Holiday,  come  ye  out,  do  ye. 
Here's  a  mon  would  to  Wayland  Smith,  and  I  care  not  to  show 
him  way  to  devil;  his  horse  hath  cast  shoe." 

"  Quid  mild  cum  cahallo  ?  "  replied  the  man  of  learning  from 
within ;  "  I  think  there  is  but  one  wise  man  in  the  hundred, 
and  they  cannot  shoe  a  horse  without  him!" 

And  forth  came  the  honest  pedagogue,  for  such  his  dress 
bespoke  him.  A  long,  lean,  shambling,  stooping  figure  was 
surmounted  by  a  head  thatched  with  lank  black  hair  somewhat 
inclining  to  grey.  His  features  had  the  cast  of  habitual  au- 
thority which  I  suppose  Dionysius  carried  with  him  from  the 
throne  to  the  schoolmaster's  pulpit,  and  bequeathed  as  a 
legacy  to  all  of  the  same  profession.  A  black  buckram  cas- 
sock was  gathered  at  his  middle  with  a  belt,  at  which  hung, 
instead  of  knife  or  weapon,  a  goodly  leathern  pen-and-ink 
case.  His  ferula  was  stuck  on  the  other  side,  like  hai-lequin's 
wooden  sword;  and  he  carried  in  his  hand  the  tattered  volume 
which  he  had  been  busily  perusing. 

On  seeing  a  person  of  Tressilian 's  appearance,  which  he  was 
better  able  to  estimate  than  the  country  folks  had  been,  the 


KENILWORTH.  123 

schoolmaster  unbonneted,  and  accosted  him  with,  ^^  Salve, 
doviine.     Intelligisne  llnguam  Latinam  ?  " 

Tressilian  mustered  his  learning  to  reply:  " LingiuB  LatincB 
haaid  penitus  ignarus,  venia  tua,  domine  emditissime,  vema- 
culam  Uhent'ms  loqiior." 

The  Latia  reply  had  upon  the  schoolmaster  the  effect  which 
the  mason's  sign  is  said  to  produce  on  the  brethren  of  the 
trowel.  He  was  at  ouce  interested  in  the  learned  traveller, 
listened  with  gravity  to  his  story  of  a  tired  horse  and  a  lost 
shoe,  and  then  replied  with  solemnity :  "  It  may  appear  a  sim- 
ple thing,  most  worshipful,  to  reply  to  you  that  there  dwells, 
within  a  brief  mile  of  these  fvguria,  the  best  fab er  ferraritiSf 
the  most  accomplished  blacksmith,  that  ever  nailed  iron  upon 
horse.  Now,  were  I  to  say  so,  I  warrant  me  you  would  think 
yourself  coawpos  voti,  or,  as  the  vulgar  have  it,  a  made 
man." 

"  I  should  at  least, "  said  Tressilian,  "  have  a  direct  answer 
to  a  plain  question,  which  seems  difficult  to  be  obtained  in 
this  country." 

"  It  is  a  mere  sending  of  a  sinful  soul  to  the  evil  un, "  said 
the  old  woman,  "the  sending  a  li\dng  creature  to  Wayland 
Smith." 

"Peace,  Gammer  Sludge!"  said  the  pedagogue;  "^;a?<ca 
verba,  Gammer  Sludge ;  look  to  the  f urmity.  Gammer  Sludge ; 
eurefur  jentacidum,  Gammer  Sludge ;  this  gentleman  is  none 
of  thy  gossips."  Then  turning  to  Tressilian,  he  resumed  his 
lofty  tone :  "  And  so,  most  worshipful,  you  would  really  think 
jouvsoM  felix  bis  terqvs  ^hovldi  I  point  out  to  you  the  dwelling 
of  this  same  smith?" 

"  Sir, "  replied  TressUian,  "  I  should  in  that  case  have  all 
that  I  want  at  jiresent,  a  horse  fit  to  carry  me  forward — out 
of  hearing  of  your  learning."  The  last  words  he  muttered  to 
himself. 

"  0,  cceca  mens  mortalium, !  "  said  the  learned  man ;  "  well 
was  it  sung  by  Junius  Juvenalis,  *  nuowinibvs  vota  exaudita 
malignis  !  '  " 

"Learned  magister,"  said  Tressilian,  "your  erudition  so 
greatly  exceeds  my  poor  intellectual  capacity,  that  you  must 


124  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

excuse  my  seeking  elsewliere  for  information  wliicli  I  can  bet- 
ter understand." 

"There  again  now,"  replied  the  pedagogue,  "how  fondly 
you  fly  from  him  that  would  instruct  you !  Truly  said  Quin- 
tilian " 

"  I  pray,  sir,  let  Quintilian  be  for  the  present,  and  answer, 
in  a  word,  and  in  English,  if  your  learning  can  condescend  so 
far,  whether  there  is  any  place  here  where  I  can  have  oppor- 
tunity to  refresh  my  horse,  until  I  can  have  him  shod?" 

"  Thus  much  courtesy,  sir, "  said  the  schoolmaster,  "  I  can 
readily  render  you,  that,  although  there  is  in  this  poor  ham- 
let— nostra  paupera  regna — no  regular  hospitium,  as  my  name- 
sake Erasmus  calleth  it,  yet,  forasmuch  as  you  are  somewhat 
embued,  or  at  least  tinged,  as  it  were,  with  good  letters,  I 
will  use  my  interest  with  the  good  woman  of  the  house  to  ac- 
commodate you  with  a  platter  of  furmity — an  wholesome  food 
for  which  I  have  found  no  Latin  phrase — your  horse  shall  have 
a  share  of  the  cow-house,  with  a  bottle  of  sweet  hay,  in  which 
the  good  woman  Sludge  so  much  abounds  that  it  may  be  said 
of  her  cow,  foenum  habet  in  cornu;  and  if  it  please  you  to  be- 
stow on  me  the  pleasure  of  your  company,  the  banquet  shall 
cost  you  ne  semissem  qmdem,  so  much  is  Gammer  Sludge 
bound  to  me  for  the  pains  I  have  bestowed  on  the  top  and 
bottom  of  her  hopeful  heir  Dickie,  whom  I  have  painfully 
made  to  travel  through  the  accidence. " 

"Now,  God  yield  ye  for  it.  Master  Herasmus,"  said  the 
good  Gammer,  "  and  grant  that  little  Dickie  may  be  the  better 
for  his  accident!  and,  for  the  rest,  if  the  gentleman  list  to 
stay,  breakfast  shall  be  on  the  board  in  the  wringing  of  a  dish- 
clout  ;  and  for  horse-meat  and  man's  meat,  I  bear  no  such  base 
mind  as  to  ask  a  penny." 

Considering  the  state  of  his  horse,  Tressilian,  upon  the 
whole,  saw  no  better  course  than  to  accept  the  invitation  thus 
learnedly  made  and  hospitably  confirmed,  and  take  chance 
that,  when  the  good  pedagogue  had  exhausted  every  topic  of 
conversation,  he  might  possibly  condescend  to  tell  him  where 
he  could  find  the  smith  they  spoke  of.  He  entered  the  hut 
accordingly,  and  sat  down  with  the  learned  Magister  Erasmus 


KENILWORTH.  125 

Holiday,  partook  of  his  furinity,  and  listened  to  his  learned 
account  of  himself  for  a  good  haK-hour,  ere  he  could  get  him. 
to  talk  upon  any  other  topic.  The  reader  will  readUy  excuse 
our  accompanying  this  man  of  learning  into  all  the  details  with 
"which  he  favoured  Tressilian,  of  which  the  following  sketch 
may  suffice. 

He  was  born  at  Hogsnorton,  where,  according  to  popular 
saymg,  the  pigs  play  upon  the  organ — a  proverb  which  he 
interpreted  allegorically,  as  having  reference  to  the  herd  of 
Epicurus,  of  which  litter  Horace  confessed  himself  a  porker. 
His  name  of  Erasmus  he  derived  partly  from  his  father  hav- 
ing been  the  son  of  a  renowned  washerwoman,  who  had  held 
that  great  scholar  in  clean  linen  all  the  while  he  was  at  Ox- 
ford— a  task  of  some  difficulty,  as  he  was  only  possessed  of 
two  shirts,  "  the  one, "  as  she  expressed  herseK,  "  to  wash  the 
other."  The  vestiges  of  one  of  these  camicue,  as  Master  Holi- 
day boasted,  were  still  in  his  possession,  having  fortunately 
been  detained  by  his  grandmother  to  cover  the  balance  of  her 
bill.  But  he  thought  there  was  a  still  higher  and  overruling 
cause  for  his  having  had  the  name  of  Erasmus  conferred  on 
him,  namely,  the  secret  presentiment  of  his  mother's  mind 
that  in  the  babe  to  be  christened  was  a  hidden  genius,  which 
should  one  day  lead  him  to  rival  the  fame  of  the  great  scholar 
of  Amsterdam.  The  schoolmaster's  surname  led  him  as  far 
into  dissertation  as  his  Christian  appellative.  He  was  inclined 
to  think  that  he  bore  the  name  of  Holiday  quasi  lucus  a  non 
lucendo,  because  he  gave  such  few  holidays  to  his  school. 
''Hence,"  said  he,  "the  schoolmaster  is  termed,  classically, 
ludi  magister,  because  he  deprives  boys  of  their  play."  And 
yet,  on  the  other  hand,  he  thought  it  might  bear  a  very  dif- 
ferent interpretation,  and  refer  to  his  own  exquisite  art  in. 
arranging  pageants,  morris-dances.  May-day  festivities,  and 
such-like  holiday  delights,  for  which  he  assured  Tressilian  he 
had  positively  the  purest  and  the  most  inventive  brain  in 
England ;  insomuch,  that  his  cunning  in  framing  such  pleas- 
ures had  made  him  known  to  many  honourable  persons,  both  in 
coimtry  and  court,  and  especially  to  the  noble  Earl  of  Leices- 
ter.    "  And  although  he  may  now  seem  to  forget  me,"  he  said. 


126  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

"  in  the  multitude  of  state  affairs,  yet  I  am  well  assured  that, 
had  he  some  pretty  pastime  to  array  for  entertainment  of  the 
Queen's  Grace,  horse  and  man  would  be  seeking  the  humble 
cottage  of  Erasmus  Holiday.  Parvo  contentus,  in  the  mean 
while,  I  hear  my  pupils  parse  and  construe,  worshipful  sir, 
and  drive  away  my  time  with  the  aid  of  the  Muses.  And  I 
have  at,  all  times,  when  in  correspondence  with  foreign  scholars, 
subscribed  myself  Erasmus  ab  Die  Fausto,  and  have  enjoyed 
the  distinction  due  to  the  learned  under  that  title ;  witness  the 
erudite  Diedrichus  Buckerschockius,  who  dedicated  to  me, 
under  that  title,  his  treatise  on  the  letter  tau.  In  fine,  sir,  I 
have  been  a  happy  and  distinguished  man." 

"Long  may  it  be  so,  sir!"  said  the  traveller;  "but  permit 
me  to  ask,  in  your  own  learned  phrase.  Quid  hoc  ad  IpJnjcli 
boves — what  has  all  this  to  do  with  the  shoeing  of  my  poor 
nag?" 

"  Festina  lente, "  said  the  man  of  learning,  "  we  will  present- 
ly come  to  that  point.  You  must  know  that,  some  two  or 
three  years  past,  there  came  to  these  parts  one  who  called 
himself  Doctor  Doboobie,  although  it  may  be  he  never  wrote 
even  viagister  artium,  save  in  right  of  his  hungry  belly.  Or 
it  may  be  that,  if  he  had  any  degrees,  they  were  of  the  devil's 
givuig,  for  he  was  what  the  vulgar  call  a  white  witch,  a  cun- 
ning man,  and  such-like.  Now,  good  sir,  I  perceive  you  are 
impatient;  but  if  a  man  tell  not  his  tale  his  own  way,  how 
have  you  warrant  to  think  that  he  can  tell  it  in  yours?" 

"Well,  then,  learned  sir,  take  your  way,"  answered  Tres- 
sUian ;  "  only  let  us  travel  at  a  sharper  pace,  for  my  time  is 
somewhat  of  the  shortest." 

"Well,  sir,"  resumed  Erasmus  Holiday,  with  the  most  pro- 
voking perseverance,  "  I  will  not  say  that  this  same  Demetrius, 
for  so  he  wrote  himself  when  in  foreign  parts,  was  an  actual 
conjurer,  but  certain  it  is,  that  he  professed  to  be  a  brother  of 
the  mystical  order  of  the  Eosy  Cross,  a  disciple  of  Geber, 
€X  noynine  cujus  venit  verhutn  vemacifhiTn,  gibberish.  He  cured 
wounds  by  salving  the  weapon  instead  of  the  sore,  told  for- 
tunes by  palmistry,  discovered  stolen  goods  by  the  sieve  and 
shears,  gathered  the  right  maddow  and  the  male  fern  seed. 


KENILWORTH.  127 

througli  use  of  wlxicli  men  walk  invisible,  pretended  some  ad- 
vances towards  the  panacea  or  universal  elixir,  and  affected  to 
convert  good  lead  into  sorry  silver." 

"In  other  words,"  said  Tressilian,  "he  was  a  quacksalver 
and  common  cheat ;  but  what  has  all  this  to  do  with  my  nag 
and  the  shoe  which  he  has  lost?" 

"With  your  worshipful  patience,"  replied  the  diffusive 
man  of  leters,  "  you  shall  imderstand  that  presently ;  patientia 
then,  right  worshix-)ful,  which  word,  according  to  our  Marcus 
Tullius,  is '' difficilium  t^erum  diurna  perjyessio."  This  same 
Demetrius  Doboobie,  after  dealiug  with  the  country,  as  I 
have  told  you,  began  to  acquire  fame  inter  magnates^  among 
the  prime  men  of  the  land,  and  there  is  likelihood  he  might 
have  aspired  to  great  matters  had  not,  according  to  Aoilgar 
fame — for  I  aver  not  the  thing  as  according  with  my  certain 
knowledge — the  devil  claimed  his  right  one  dark  night,  and 
flown  off  with  Demetrius,  who  was  never  seen  or  heard  of 
afterwards.  Kow  here  comes  the  medulla^  the  very  marrow, 
of  my  tale.  This  Doctor  Doboobie  had  a  servant,  a  poor 
snake,  whom  he  employed  in  trimming  his  furnace,  regulatiug 
it  by  just  measure,  compounding  his  di'ugs,  tracing  his  cir- 
cles, cajoling  his  patients,  et  sic  de  ccetei'is.  Well,  right  wor- 
shipful, the  doctor  being  removed  thus  strangely,  and  in  a  way 
which  struck  the  whole  country  with  terror,  this  poor  zany 
thinks  to  himself,  in  the  words  of  Maro,  *  TJno  avulso,  non 
deficit  alter  ^;  and,  even  as  a  tradesman's  apprentice  sets 
liimself  up  in  his  master's  shop  when  he  is  dead,  or  hath  re- 
tired from  business,  so  doth  this  Wayland  assume  the  dan- 
gerous trade  of  his  defunct  master.  But  although,  most  wor- 
shipful sir,  the  world  is  ever  prone  to  listen  to  the  pretensions 
of  such  unworthy  men,  who  are,  indeed,  mere  saltim  hanqui 
and  tharlatani,  though  usurping  the  stj'le  and  skill  of  doctors 
of  medicine,  yet  the  pretensions  of  this  poor  zany,  this  Way- 
land,  were  too  gross  to  pass  on  them,  nor  was  there  a  mere 
rustic,  a  villager,  who  was  not  ready  to  accost  him  in  the 
sense  of  Persius,  though  in  their  o^vn  rugged  words : 

Dilnis  hellebornm,  certo  compescere  puncto 
Nescius  examen  ?  vetat  hoc  natura  medendii 


128  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

which  I  have  thus  rendered  in  a  poor  paraphrase  of  mine 

own: 

"Wilt  thou  mis  hellebore,  who  doth  not  know 
How  many  grains  should  to  the  mixture  go? 
The  art  of  medicine  this  forbids,  I  trow. 

Moreover,  the  evil  reputation  of  the  master,  and  his  strange 
and  doubtful  end,  or  at  least  sudden  disappearance,  prevented 
any,  excepting  the  most  desperate  of  men,  to  seek  any  advice 
or  opinion  from  the  servant ;  wherefore,  the  poor  vermin  was 
likely  at  first  to  swarf  for  very  hunger.  But  the  devO.  that 
serves  him,  since  the  death  of  Demetrius  or  Doboobie,  put  him 
on  a  fresh  device.  This  knave,  whether  from  the  inspiratioa 
of  the  devil  or  from  early  education,  shoes  horses  better 
than  e'er  a  man  betwixt  us  and  Iceland ;  and  so  he  gives  up 
Ids  practice  on  the  bipeds,  the  two-legged  and  unfledged  spe- 
cies called  mankind,  and  betakes  him  entirely  to  shoeing  of 
horses." 

"Indeed I  and  where  does  he  lodge  all  this  time?"  said 
Tressilian.  "And  does  he  shoe  horses  well?  Show  me  his 
dwelling  presently." 

The  interruption  pleased  not  the  magister,  who  exclaimed : 
*'  Oj  cceca  mens  mortalium  !  though,  by  the  way,  I  used  that 
quotation  before.  But  I  would  the  classics  could  afford  me 
any  sentiment  of  power  to  stop  those  who  are  so  willing  to 
rush  upon  their  own  destruction.  Hear  but,  I  pray  you,  the 
conditions  of  this  man,"  said  he,  in  continuation,  "ere  you 
are  so  willing  to  place  yourself  within  his  danger " 

"A'  takes  no  money  for  a's  work,"  said  the  dame,  who 
stood  by,  enraptured  as  it  were  with  the  fine  words  and  learned 
apophthegms  which  glided  so  fluently  from  her  erudite  in- 
mate, Master  Holiday.  But  this  interruption  pleased  not  the 
magister  more  than  that  of  the  traveller. 

"  Peace, "  said  he,  "  Gammer  Sludge ;  know  your  place,  if  it 
be  your  wiU.  Sttfflamina,  Gammer  Sludge,  and  allow  me  to 
expound  this  matter  to  our  worshipful  guest.  Sir,"  said  he, 
again  addressing  Tressilian,  "this  old  woman  speaks  true, 
though  in  her  ovm  rude  style,  for  certainly  this faber  farrarius, 
or  blacksmith,  takes  money  of  no  one." 


KENILWORTH.  12^ 

"  And  that  is  a  sure  sign  lie  deals  with  Satan, "  said  Dame 
Sludge ;  "  since  no  good  Christian  would  ever  refuse  the  wages 
of  his  labour." 

"  The  old  woman  hath  touched  it  again, "  said  the  pedagogue ; 
"  rem  acu  tetigit — she  hath  pricked  it  with  her  needle's  poiut. 
This  Wayland  takes  no  money,  iudeed,  nor  doth  he  sho\y 
himself  to  any  one." 

"And  can  this  madman,  for  such  I  hold  him,"  said  the 
traveller,  "Imow  aught  like  good  skill  of  his  trade?" 

"  Oh,  sir,  in  that  let  us  give  the  devil  his  due.  Mulciber 
himseK,  with  all  his  Cyclops,  could  hardly  amend  him.  But 
assuredly  there  is  little  wisdom  in  taking  counsel  or  receiving 
aid  from  one  who  is  but  too  plainly  in  league  with  the  author 
of  evil." 

"I  must  take  my  chance  of  that,  good  Master  Holiday,'*' 
said  TressUian,  rising;  "and  as  my  horse  must  now  have 
eaten  his  provender,  I  must  needs  thank  you  for  your  good 
cheer,  and  pray  you  to  show  me  this  man's  residence,  that  I 
may  have  the  means  of  proceeding  on  my  journey." 

"  Ay — ay,  do  ye  show  him.  Master  Herasmus, "  said  the  old 
dame,  who  was,  perhaps,  desirous  to  get  her  house  freed  of 
her  guest;  "a'  must  needs  go  when  the  devil  drives." 

'^ Do  ma7ius,"  said  the  magister — "I  submit,  taking  the 
world  to  witness  that  I  have  possessed  this  honourable  gentle- 
man with  the  full  injustice  which  he  has  done,  and  shall  do, 
to  his  own  soul  if  he  becomes  thus  a  trinketer  with  Satan. 
Neither  will  I  go  forth  with  our  guest  myself,  but  rather  send 
my  pupil.     Ricarde  !  adsis,  nebulo. " 

"Under  your  favour,  not  so,"  answered  the  old  woman j 
"  you  may  peril  your  own  soul,  if  you  list,  but  my  son  shall 
budge  on  no  such  errand ;  and  I  wonder  at  you.  Dominie  Doc- 
tor,  to  propose  such  a  piece  of  service  for  little  Dickie. " 

"  Nay,  my  good  Gammer  Sludge, "  answered  the  preceptor, 
"Ricardus  shall  go  but  to  the  top  of  the  hill,  and  indicate 
with  his  digit  to  the  stranger  the  dwelling  of  Wayland  Smith. 
Believe  not  that  any  evil  can  come  to  him,  he  having  read  this 
morning,  fasting,  a  chapter  of  the  Septuagint,  and,  moreover, 
having  had  his  lesson  in  the  Greek  Testament.** 
9 


130  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

"  Ay, "  said  his  mother,  "  and  I  have  sewn  a  sprig  of  witch's 
elm  in  the  necli  of  un's  doublet,  ever  since  that  foul  thief  has 
begun  his  practices  on  man  and  beast  in  these  parts." 

"  And  as  he  goes  oft,  as  I  hugely  suspect,  towards  this  con- 
jurer for  his  own  pastime,  he  may  for  once  go  thither,  or  near 
it,  to  pleasure  us,  and  to  assist  this  stranger.  Ergo^  heus, 
Micarde  !  adsis,  qttceso,  mi  didaseule. " 

The  pupil,  thus  affectionately  invoked,  at  length  came 
stumbling  into  the  room — a  queer,  shambling,  ill-made  urchin, 
who,  by  his  stmited  growth,  seemed  about  twelve  or  thirteen 
years  old,  though  he  was  probably,  in  reality,  a  year  or  two 
older,  with  a  carroty  pate  in  huge  disorder,  a  freckled,  sun- 
burnt visage,  with  a  snub  nose,  a  long  chin,  and  two  peery 
grey  eyes,  which  had  a  droll  obliquity  of  vision,  approaching 
to  a  squint,  though  perhaps  not  a  decided  one.  It  was  im- 
possible to  look  at  the  little  man  without  some  disposition  to 
laugh,  especially  when  Gammer  Sludge,  seizmg  upon  and 
kissing  him,  in  spite  of  his  struggling  and  kicking  in  reply  to 
her  caresses,  termed  him  her  own  precious  pearl  of  beauty. 

*^ Ricarde"  said  the  preceptor,  "you  must  forthwith,  which 
is  profecto,  set  forth  so  far  as  the  top  of  the  hill,  and  show 
this  man  of  worship  Wayiaud  Smith's  workshop." 

"A  proper  errand  of  a  morning,"  said  the  boy,  in  better 
language  than  Tressilian  expected j  "and  who  knows  but  the 
devil  may  fly  away  with  me  before  I  come  back?" 

"  Ay,  marry  may  un, "  said  Dame  Sludge,  "  and  you  might 
have  thought  twice,  Master  Dominie,  ere  you  sent  my  dainty 
darling  on  arrow  such  errand.  It  is  not  for  such  doings  I 
feed  your  belly  and  clothe  your  back,  I  warrant  you!" 

"  Pshaw !  migcB,  good  Gammer  Sludge, "  answered  the  pre- 
ceptor; "I  ensure  you  that  Satan,  if  there  be  Satan  in  the 
ease,  shall  not  touch  a  thread  of  his  garment;  for  Dickie  can 
say  his  pater  with  the  best,  and  may  defy  the  foul  fiend — 
Muinenides,  Sti/gmmique  nefas. " 

"  Ay,  and  I,  as  I  said  before,  have  sewed  a  sprig  of  the  moun- 
tain-ash into  his  collar, "  said  the  good  woman,  "  which  will 
avail  more  than  your  clerkship,  I  wus ;  but  for  all  that,  it  is 
ill  to  seek  the  devil  or  his  mates  either." 


KENILWORTH.  131 

"  My  good  boy, "  said  Tressilian,  who  saw,  from  a  grotesque 
sneer  oa  Dickie's  face,  that  he  was  more  likely  to  act  upon  his 
own  bottom  than  by  the  instruction  of  his  elders,  "  I  will  give 
thee  a  silver  groat,  my  pretty  fellow,  if  you  will  but  guide  me 
to  this  man's  forge." 

The  boy  gave  him  a  knowing  side-look,  which  seemed  to 
promise  acquiescence,  while  at  the  same  time  he  exclaimed : 
"I  be  your  guide  to  Waj^land  Smith's!  Why,  man,  did  I  not 
say  that  the  devil  might  fly  off  with  me,  just  as  the  kite  there 
(looking  to  the  window)  is  flying  off  with  one  of  grandame's 
chicks?" 

"  The  kite! — the  kite!"  exclaimed  the  old  woman  in  return, 
and  forgetting  all  other  matters  in  her  alarm,  hastened  to  the 
rescue  of  her  chicken  as  fast  as  her  old  legs  could  carry  her. 

"  Kow  for  it, "  said  the  urchin  to  Tressilian ;  "  snatch  your 
beaver,  get  out  your  horse,  and  have  at  the  silver  groat  you 
spoke  of." 

"  Nay,  but  tarry — tarry, "  said  the  preceptor,  "  Sufflaminaf 
Ricarde  !  " 

"  Tarry  yourself, "  said  Dickie,  "  and  think  what  answer  you 
are  to  make  to  granny  for  sending  me  post  to  the  devil." 

The  teacher,  aware  of  the  responsibility  he  was  incurring, 
"bustled  up  in  great  haste  to  lay  hold  of  the  urchin,  and  to  pre- 
vent his  departure;  but  Dickie  slipped  through  his  fingers, 
bolted  from  the  cottage,  and  sped  him  to  the  top  of  a 
neighbouring  rising-ground;  while  the  preceptor,  despairing, 
by  well-taught  experience,  of  recovering  his  pupil  by  speed  of 
foot,  had  recourse  to  the  most  honied  epithets  the  Latin  vocab- 
ulary affords  to  persuade  his  return.  But  to  7ni  anlme,  cov 
euhfin  meum,  and  all  such  classical  endearments,  the  truant 
turned  a  deaf  ear,  and  kept  frisking  on  the  top  of  the  rising- 
ground  like  a  goblin  by  moonlight,  making  signs  to  his  new 
acquaintance,  Tressilian,  to  follow  him. 

The  traveller  lost  no  time  in  getting  out  his  horse,  and  de- 
parting to  join  his  elvish  guide,  after  half -forcing  on  the  poor 
deserted  teacher  a  recompense  for  the  entertainment  he  had 
received,  which  partly  allayed  the  terror  he  had  for  facing  the 
return  of  the  old  lady  of  the  mansion.     Apparently  this  took 


132  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

place  soon  afterwards ;  for  ere  Tressiliau  and  his  guide  had 
proceeded  far  on  their  journey  they  heard  the  screams  of  a 
cracked  female  voice,  intermingled  with  the  classical  objurga- 
tions of  Master  Erasmus  Holiday.  But  Dickie  Sludge,  equally 
deaf  to  the  voice  of  maternal  tenderness  and  of  magisterial  au- 
thority, skipped  on  unconsciously  before  Tressilian,  only  ob- 
serving that :  "  If  they  cried  themselves  hoarse,  they  might  go 
lick  the  honey-pot,  for  he  had  eaten  up  all  the  honeycomb 
himself  on  yesterday  even."  '' 


CHAPTER  X. 

There  entering  in,  they  found  the  goodman  selfe 
Full  busylie  unto  his  work  ybent, 
Who  was  to  weet  a  wretched  wearish  elf, 
With  hollow  eyes  and  rawbone  cheeks  forspent, 
As  if  he  had  been  long  in  prison  pent. 

The  Faery  Queene. 

"  Ake  we  far  from  the  dwelling  of  this  smith,  my  pretty 
lad?"  said  Tressilian  to  his  young  guide. 

"  How  is  it  you  call  me?"  said  the  boy,  looking  askew  at 
him  with  his  sharp  grey  eyes. 

"  I  call  you  my  pretty  lad — is  there  any  offence  in  that,  my 
Tboy?" 

"  No,  bat  were  you  with  my  grandame  and  Dominie  Holi- 
day, you  might  sing  chorus  to  the  old  song  of 

We  three 
Tom-fools  be." 

"And  why  so,  my  little  man?"  said  Tressilian. 

"Because,"  answered  the  ugly  urchin,  "you  are  the  only 
three  ever  called  me  pretty  lad.  Now  my  grandame  does  it 
because  she  is  parcel  blind  by  age,  and  whole  blind  by  kindred-, 
and  my  master,  the  poor  dominie,  does  it  to  curry  favour,  and 
have  the  fullest  platter  of  furmity,  and  the  warmest  seat  by 
the  fire.  But  what  you  call  me  pretty  lad  for,  you  know  best 
yourself." 


KENILWORTH.  133 

"  Thou  art  a  sharp  wag  at  least,  if  not  a  pretty  one.  But 
■what  do  thy  playfellows  call  thee?" 

"  Hobgoblin, "  answered  the  boy,  readily ;  "  but  for  all  that 
I  would  rather  have  my  own  ugly  viznomy  than  any  of  their 
jolterheads,  that  have  no  more  brains  in  them  than  a  brick-bat." 

"  Then  you  fear  not  this  smith,  whom  you  are  going  to  see?" 

"Me  fear  him!"  answered  the  boy;  "if  he  were  the  devil 
folk  think  him,  I  would  not  fear  him;  but  though  there  is 
something  queer  about  him,  he's  no  more  a  devil  than  you  are, 
und  that's  what  I  would  not  tell  to  every  one." 

"  And  why  do  you  tell  it  to  me,  then,  my  boy?"  said 
Tressiiian. 

"  Because  you  are  another-guess  gentleman  than  those  we 
see  here  every  day,"  replied  Dickie;  "and  though  I  am  as 
ugly  as  sin,  I  would  not  have  you  think  me  an  ass,  especially 
as  I  may  have  a  boon  to  ask  of  you  one  day." 

"  And  what  is  that,  my  lad,  whom  I  must  not  call  pretty?" 
replied  Tressiiian. 

"  Oh,  if  I  were  to  ask  it,  just  now,"  said  the  boy,  "  you  would 
deny  it  me ;  but  I  will  wait  till  we  meet  at  court. " 

"At  court,  Eichard!  are  you  bound  for  court?"  said  Tres- 
siiian. 

"Ay — ay,  that's  just  like  the  rest  of  them,"  replied  the 
boy ;  "  I  warrant  me  you  think,  what  should  such  an  ill- 
favoured,  scrambling  urchin  do  at  court?  But  let  Eichard 
Sludge  alone ;  I  have  not  been  cock  of  the  roost  here  for  noth- 
ing.    I  will  make  sharp  wit  mend  foul  feature. " 

"  But  what  will  your  grandame  say,  and  your  tutor,  Dominie 
Holiday?" 

"E'en  what  they  like, "  replied  Dickie;  "the  one  has  her 
chickens  to  reckon,  and  the  other  has  his  boys  to  whip.  I 
would  have  given  them  the  candle  to  hold  long  since,  and 
shown  this  trumpery  hamlet  a  fair  pair  of  heels,  but  that 
dominie  promises  I  should  go  with  him  to  bear  share  in  the 
next  pageant  he  is  to  set  forth,  and  they  say  there  are  to  be 
■great  revels  shortly." 

"  And  whereabout  are  they  to  be  held,  my  little  friend?" 
said  Tressiiian. 


134  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

"Oh,  at  some  castle  far  iu  the  north,"  answered  his  guide — 
"a  world's  breadth  from  Berkshire.  But  our  old  dominie 
holds  that  they  cannot  go  forward  without  him ;  and  it  may 
be  he  is  right,  for  he  has  put  in  order  many  a  fair  pageant. 
He  is  not  half  the  fool  you  would  take  him  for,  when  he  gets 
to  work  he  understands ;  and  so  he  can  spout  verses  like  a  play- 
actor, when,  God  wot,  if  you  set  him  to  steal  a  goose's  egg, 
he  would  be  drubbed  by  the  gander." 

'*  And  you  are  to  play  a  part  in  his  next  show?"  said  Tres- 
silian,  somewhat  interested  by  the  boy's  boldness  of  conversa- 
tion and  shrewd  estimate  of  character. 

"  In  faith, "  said  Eichard  Sludge,  in  answer,  "  he  hath  so 
promised  me ;  and  if  he  break  his  word  it  will  be  the  worse 
for  him ;  for  let  me  take  the  bit  between  my  teeth,  and  turn 
my  head  down  hill,  and  I  will  shake  him  off  with  a  fall  that 
may  harm  his  bones.  And  I  should  not  like  much  to  hurt 
him  neither,"  said  he,  "for  the  tiresome  old  fool  has  painfully 
laboured  to  teach  me  all  he  could.  But  enough  of  that ;  here 
are  we  at  Wayland  Smith's  forge  door." 

"  You  jest,  my  little  friend,"  said  Tressilian ;  "  here  is  noth- 
ing but  a  bare  moor,  and  that  ring  of  stones,  with  a  great  one 
in  the  midst,  like  a  Cornish  barrow." 

"Ay,  and  that  great  flat  stone  in  the  midst,  which  lies 
across  the  top  of  these  uprights,"  said  the  boy,  "is  Way- 
land  Smith's  counter,  that  you  must  tell  down  your  money 
upon." 

"What  do  you  mean  by  such  folly?"  said  the  traveller,  be- 
ginning to  be  angry  with  the  boy,  and  vexed  with  himself  for 
having  trusted  such  a  hare-brained  guide. 

"Why,"  said  Dickie,  with  a  grin,  "you  must  tie  your 
horse  to  that  upright  stone  that  has  the  ring  in't,  and  thea 
you  must  whistle  three  times,  and  lay  me  down  your  sil- 
ver groat  on  that  other  flat  stone,  walk  out  of  the  circle,  sit 
down  on  the  west  side  of  that  little  thicket  of  bushes,  and  take 
heed  you  look  neither  to  right  nor  to  left  for  ten  minutes,  or 
so  long  as  you  shall  hear  the  hammer  clink,  and  whenever  it 
ceases  say  your  prayers  for  the  space  you  could  tell  a  hundred, 
or  count  over  a  hundred,  which  will  do  as  well,  and  then  come 


KENILTVORTH.  135 

into  the  circle ;  you  will  find  yoiu*  money  gone  and  your  horse 
«hod." 

"  My  money  gone  to  a  certainty !"  said  Tressilian ;  "  but  as 
for  the  rest Hark  ye,  my  lad,  I  am  not  your  schoolmas- 
ter; but  if  you  play  oif  your  waggery  on  me,  I  wiU  take  a 
part  of  his  task  off  his  hands,  and  punish  you  to  purpose." 

"Ay,  when  you  can  catch  me!"  said  the  boy;  and  present- 
ly took  to  his  heels  across  the  heath,  with  a  velocity  which 
bafEed  every  attempt  of  Tressilian  to  overtake  him,  loaded  as 
he  was  with  his  heaiy  boots.  Kor  was  it  the  least  provoking 
part  of  the  urchin's  conduct  that  he  did  not  exert  his  utmost 
speed,  like  one  who  finds  himself  in  danger  or  who  is  fright- 
ened, but  preserved  just  such  a  rate  as  to  encourage  Tressilian 
to  continue  the  chase,  and  then  darted  away  from  him  with 
the  swiftness  of  the  wind,  when  his  pursuer  supposed  he  had 
nearly  run  him  down,  doubling  at  the  same  time,  and  winding, 
so  as  always  to  keep  near  the  place  from  which  he  started. 

This  lasted  until  Tressilian,  from  very  weariaess,  stood 
still,  and  was  about  to  abandon  the  pursuit  with  a  hearty 
curse  on  the  ill-favoured  urchin,  who  had  engaged  him  in  an 
exercise  so  ridicidous.  But  the  boy,  who  had,  as  formerly, 
planted  himself  on  the  top  of  a  hillock  close  in  front,  began 
to  clap  his  long  thin  hands,  point  with  his  skinny  fingers,  and 
twist  his  wild  and  ugly  features  into  such  an  extravagant  ex- 
pression of  laughter  and  derision,  that  Tressilian  began  half 
to  doubt  whether  he  had  not  in  view  an  actual  hobgoblin. 

Provoked  extremely,  yet  at  the  same  time  feeling  an  irre- 
sistible desire  to  laugh,  so  very  odd  were  the  boy's  grimaces 
and  gesticulations,  the  Cornishman  returned  to  his  horse,  and 
mounted  him  with  the  purpose  of  pursuing  Dickie  at  more 
advantage. 

The  boy  no  sooner  saw  him  mount  his  horse  than  he  hallooed 
out  to  him  that,  rather  than  he  should  spoil  his  white-footed 
nag,  he  would  come  to  him,  on  condition  he  would  keep  his 
fingers  to  himself. 

"I  will  make  no  conditions  with  thee,  thou  ugly  varlet!" 
said  Tressilian;  "  I  will  have  thee  at  my  mercy  in  a  moment." 

"  Aha,  Master  Traveller, "  said  the  boy,  "  there  is  a  marsh 


136  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

hard  by  would  swallow  all  the  horses  of  the  Queen's  Guard;  I 
will  mto  it,  and  see  where  you  will  go  then.  You  shall  hear 
the  bittern  bump  and  the  wild  drake  quack  ere  you  get  hold 
of  me  without  my  consent,  I  promise  you." 

Tressilian  looked  out,  and,  from  the  appearance  of  the 
ground  behind  the  hillock,  believed  it  might  be  as  the  boy 
said,  and  accordingly  determined  to  strike  up  a  peace  with  so 
light-footed  and  ready-witted  an  enemy.  "  Come  down, "  he 
said,  "  thou  mischievous  brat !  Leave  thy  mopping  and  mow- 
ing, and  come  hither ;  I  will  do  thee  no  harm,  as  I  am  a  gentle- 
man." 

The  boy  answered  his  invitation  with  the  utmost  confidence, 
and  danced  down  from  his  stance  with  a  galliard  sort  of  step, 
keeping  his  eye  at  the  same  time  fixed  on  Tressilian's,  who, 
once  more  dismounted,  stood  with  his  horse's  bridle  in  his 
hand,  breathless  and  haK-exhausted  with  his  fruitless  exercise, 
though  not  one  drop  of  moisture  appeared  on  the  freckled 
forehead  of  the  urchin,  which  looked  like  a  piece  of  dry  and 
discoloured  parchment,  drawn  tight  across  the  brow  of  a  flesh- 
less  skull. 

"And  tell  me,"  said  Tressilian,  "why  you  use  me  thus, 
thou  mischievous  imp?  or  what  your  meaning  is  by  telling  me 
so  absurd  a  legend  as  you  wished  but  now  to  put  on  me?  Or 
rather  show  me,  in  good  earnest,  this  smith's  forge,  and  I  will 
give  thee  what  will  buy  thee  apples  through  the  whole  winter. " 

"  Were  you  to  give  me  an  orchard  of  apples, "  said  Dickie 
Sludge,  "  I  can  guide  thee  no  better  than  I  have  done.  Lay 
down  the  silver  token  on  the  flat  stone,  whistle  three  times ; 
then  come  sit  down  on  the  western  side  of  the  thicket  of  gorse. 
I  will  sit  by  you,  and  give  you  free  leave  to  wring  my  head 
off,  unless  you  hear  the  smith  at  work  within  two  minutes 
after  we  are  seated." 

"  I  may  be  tempted  to  take  thee  at  thy  word, "  said  Tres- 
silian, "  if  you  make  me  do  aught  half  so  ridiculous  for  your 
own  mischievous  sport;  however,  I  will  prove  your  spell. 
Here,  then,  I  tie  my  horse  to  this  upright  stone.  I  must  lay 
my  silver  groat  here,  and  whistle  three  times,  sayst  thou?" 

"  Ay,  but  thou  must  whistle  louder  than  an  unfledged  ouzel, " 


KENILWORTH.  137 

said  tlie  boy,  as  Tressilian,  having  laid  down  his  money,  and 
lalf -ashamed  of  the  folly  he  practised,  made  a  careless  whistle. 
^'  You  must  whistle  louder  than  that,  for  who  knows  where 
the  smith  is  that  you  call  for?  He  may  be  in  the  King  of 
France's  stables  for  what  I  know." 

"  Why,  you  said  but  now  he  was  no  devil, "  replied  Tres- 
silian. 

"  Man  or  devil, "  said  Dickie,  "  I  see  that  I  must  summon 
iim  for  you" ;  and  therewithal  he  whistled  sharp  and  shrill, 
with  an  acuteness  of  sound  that  almost  thrilled  through  Tres- 
silian's  brain.  "  That  is  what  I  call  whistling,"  said  he,  after 
he  had  repeated  the  signal  thrice;  "and  now  to  cover — to 
cover,  or  Whitefoot  will  not  be  shod  this  day." 

Tressilian,  musing  what  the  upshot  of  this  mummery  was 
to  be,  yet  satisfied  there  was  to  be  some  serious  result,  by  the 
confidence  with  which  the  boy  had  put  himself  in  his  power, 
suffered  himself  to  be  conducted  to  that  side  of  the  little 
thicket  of  gorse  and  brushwood  which  was  farthest  from  the 
circle  of  stones,  and  there  sat  down;  and,  as  it  occurred  to 
him  that,  after  all,  this  might  be  a  trick  for  stealing  his 
horse,  he  kept  his  hand  on  the  boy's  collar,  determined  to 
make  him  hostage  for  its  safety. 

"Now,  hush  and  listen,"  said  Dickie,  in  a  low  whisper; 
^'  you  will  soon  hear  the  tack  of  a  hammer  that  was  never 
forged  of  earthly  iron,  for  the  stone  it  was  made  of  was  shot 
from  the  moon."  And  in  effect  Tressilian  did  immediately 
hear  the  light  stroke  of  a  hammer,  as  when  a  farrier  is  at 
work.  The  singularity  of  such  a  sound,  in  so  very  lonely 
a  place,  made  him  involuntarily  start;  but  looking  at  the 
boy,  and  discovering,  by  the  arch,  malicious  expression  of 
his  countenance,  that  the  urchin  saw  and  enjoyed  his  slight 
tremor,  he  became  convinced  that  the  whole  was  a  concerted 
stratagem,  and  determined  to  know  by  whom,  or  for  what 
purpose,  the  trick  was  played  off. 

Accordingly,  he  remained  perfectly  quiet  all  the  time  that 
the  hammer  continued  to  sound,  being  about  the  space  usually 
employed  in  fixing  a  horse-shoe.  But  the  instant  the  sound 
ceased,  Tressilian,  instead  of  interposing  the  space  of  time 


138  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

"wliich  Ills  guide  had  required,  started  up  with  his  sword  in 
his  haud,  ran  round  the  thicket,  and  confronted  a  man  in  a 
farrier's  leathern  apron,  but  otherwise  fantastically  attired  la 
a  bear-skin  dressed  with  the  fur  on,  and  a  cap  of  the  same, 
which  almost  hid  the  sooty  and  begrimed  features  of  the 
wearer.  "  Come  back — come  back!"  cried  the  boy  to  Tressil- 
ian,  "  or  you  will  be  torn  to  pieces — no  man  lives  that  looks 
on  him."  In  fact,  the  invisible  smith  (now  fully  visible) 
heaved  up  his  hammer,  and  showed  symptoms  of  doing 
battle. 

But  when,  the  boy  observed  that  neither  his  own  entreaties 
nor  the  menaces  of  the  farrier  appeared  to  change  Tressilian's 
purpose,  but  that,  on  the  contrary,  he  confronted  the  hammer 
with  his  drawn  sword,  he  exclaimed  to  the  smith  in  turn: 
*'  Wayland,  touch  him  not,  or  you  will  come  by  the  worse !  th© 
gentleman  is  a  true  gentleman,  and  a  bold." 

"  So  thou  hast  betrayed  me.  Flibbertigibbet?"  said  the 
smith;  " it  shall  be  the  worse  for  thee!" 

"  Be  who  thou  wilt, "  said  Tressilian,  "  thou  art  in  no  danger 
from  me,  so  thou  tell  me  the  meaning  of  this  practice,  and 
why  thou  drivest  thy  trade  in  this  mysterious  fashion." 

The  smith,  however,  turning  to  Tressilian,  exclaimed,  in  a 
threatening  tone :  "  Who  questions  the  Keeper  of  the  Crystal 
Castle  of  Light,  the  Lord  of  the  Green  Lion,  the  Rider  of  the 
Ked  Dragon?  Hence!  avoid  thee,  ere  I  summon Talpack  with 
his  iiery  lance  to  quell,  crush,  and  consume!"  These  words 
he  uttered  with  violent  gesticulation,  mouthing  and  flourishing 
his  hammer. 

"Peace,  thou  vile  cozener,  with  thy  gipsy  cant!"  replied 
TressUian,  scornfully,  "  and  follow  me  to  the  next  magistrate, 
or  I  will  cut  thee  over  the  pate." 

"Peace,  I  pray  thee,  good  Wayland!"  said  the  boy;  "credit 
me,  the  swaggering  vein  will  not  pass  here;  you  must  cut  boon 
whids." 

"I  think,  worshipful  sir,"  said  the  smith,  sinking  his  ham- 
mer, and  assuming  a  more  gentle  and  submissive  tone  of  voice, 
"that  when  so  poor  a  man  does  his  day's  job,  he  might  be 
permitted  to  work  it  out  after  his  own  fashion.     Your  horse 


KE^^ILWORTH.  139 

is  sliod,  and  your  farrier  paid.  What  need  you  cumber  your- 
self further  than  to  mount  and  pursue  your  journey?" 

*'  Nay,  friend,  you  are  mistaken, "  replied  Tressilian ;  "  every 
man  has  a  right  to  take  the  mask  from  the  face  of  a  cheat  and 
a  juggler;  and  your  mode  of  living  raises  suspicion  that  you 
ai"e  both." 

"  If  you  are  so  determined,  sir, "  said  the  smith,  "  I  cannot 
help  myself  save  by  force,  which  I  were  unwilling  to  use 
towards  you,  Master  Tressilian ;  not  that  I  fear  your  weapon, 
but  because  I  know  you  to  be  a  worthy,  kind,  and  well- 
accomplished  gentleman,  who  would  rather  help  than  harm 
a  poor  man  that  is  in  a  strait." 

"Well  said,  Wayland,"  said  the  boy,  who  had  anxiously 
awaited  the  issue  of  their  conference.  "  But  let  us  to  thy 
den,  man,  for  it  is  ill  for  thy  health  to  stand  here  talking  in 
the  open  air." 

"  Thou  art  right,  Hobgoblin, "  replied  the  smith ;  and  going 
to  the  little  thicket  of  gorse  on  the  side  nearest  to  the  circle, 
and  opposite  to  that  at  which  his  customer  had  so  lately 
couched,  he  discovered  a  trap-door  curiously  covered  with 
bushes,  raised  it,  and,  descending  into  the  earth,  vanished 
from  their  eyes.  Notwithstanding  Tressilian' s  curiosity,  he 
had  some  hesitation  at  following  the  fellow  into  what  might 
be  a  den  of  robbers,  especially  when  he  heard  the  smith's 
voice,  issuing  from  the  bowels  of  the  earth,  call  out :  "  Flib- 
bertigibbet, do  you  come  last,  and  be  sure  to  fasten  the  trap!" 

"  Have  you  seen  enough  of  Wayland  Smith  now?"  whispered 
the  urchin  to  Tressilian,  with  an  ai-ch  sneer,  as  if  marking  his 
companion's  uncertainty. 

"  Not  yet, "  said  Tressilian,  firmly ;  and  shaking  off  his  mo- 
mentary irresolution,  he  descended  into  the  narrow  staircase 
to  which  the  entrance  led,  and  was  followed  by  Dickie  Sludge, 
who  made  fast  the  trap-door  behind  him,  and  thus  excluded 
every  glimmer  of  daylight.  The  descent,  however,  was  only 
a  few  steps,  and  led  to  a  level  passage  of  a  few  yards'  length, 
at  the  end  of  which  appeared  the  reflection  of  a  lurid  and  red 
light.  Arrived  at  this  point,  with  his  drawn  sword  in  his 
hand,  Tressilian  found  that  a  turn  to  the  left  admitted  him 


140  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

and  Hobgoblin,  who  followed  closely,  into  a  small  square 
vault  containing  a  smith's  forge  glowing  with  charcoal,  the 
vapour  of  which  filled  the  apartment  with  an  oppressive  smell, 
which  would  have  been  altogether  suffocating,  but  that  by 
some  concealed  vent  the  smithy  communicated  with  the  upper 
air.  The  light  afforded  by  the  red  fuel,  and  by  a  lamp  sus- 
pended in  an  iron  chain,  served  to  show  that,  besides  an  anvil, 
bellows,  tongs,  hammers,  a  quantity  of  ready-made  horse- 
shoes, and  other  articles  proper  to  the  profession  of  a  farrier, 
there  were  also  stoves,  alembics,  crucibles,  retorts,  and  other 
instruments  of  alchemy.  The  grotesque  figure  of  the  smith, 
and  the  ugly  but  whimsical  features  of  the  boy,  seen  by  the 
gloomy  and  imperfect  light  of  the  charcoal  fire  and  the  dying 
lamp,  accorded  very  well  with  all  this  mystical  apparatus,  and 
in  that  age  of  superstition  would  have  made  some  impression 
on  the  courage  of  most  men. 

But  nature  had  endowed  Tressilian  with  firm  nerves,  and 
his  education,  originally  good,  had  been  too  sedulously  im- 
proved by  subsequent  study  to  give  way  to  any  imaginary 
terrors ;  and  after  givmg  a  glance  around  him,  he  again  de- 
manded of  the  artist  who  he  was,  and  by  what  accident  he 
came  to  know  and  address  him  by  his  name. 

"Your  worship  cannot  but  remember,"  said  the  smith, 
"that  about  three  years  since,  upon  St.  Lucy's  Eve,  there 
came  a  travelling  juggler  to  a  certain  hall  in  Devonshire,  and 
exhibited  his  skill  before  a  worshipful  knight  and  a  fair  com- 
pany. I  see  from  your  worship's  countenance,  dark  as  this 
place  is,  that  my  memory  has  not  done  me  wrong." 

"  Thou  hast  said  enough, "  said  Tressilian,  turning  away, 
as  wishing  to  hide  from  the  speaker  the  pamf ul  train  of  recol- 
lections which  his  discourse  had  unconsciously  awakened. 

"  The  juggler, "  said  the  smith,  "  played  his  part  so  bravely 
that  the  clowns  and  clown-like  squires  in  the  company  held 
his  art  to  be  little  less  than  magical;  but  there  was  one  maiden 
of  fifteen  or  thereby,  with  the  fairest  face  I  ever  looked  upon, 
whose  rosy  cheek  grew  pale,  and  her  bright  eyes  dim,  at  the 
sight  of  the  wonders  exhibited. " 

"Peace,  I  command  thee — peace!"  said  Tressilian. 


KENILWORTH.  141 

**  I  mean  your  worship  no  offence, "  said  the  fellow :  "  but  I 
have  cause  to  remember  how,  to  relieve  the  young  maiden's 
fears,  you  condescended  to  point  out  the  mode  in  which  these 
deceptions  were  practised,  and  to  baffle  the  poor  juggler  by 
laying  bare  the  mysteries  of  his  art  as  ably  as  if  you  had  been 
a  brother  of  his  order.  She  was  indeed  so  fair  a  maiden  that, 
to  win  a  smile  of  her,  a  man  might  well " 

"  Not  a  word  more  of  her,  I  charge  thee !"  said  Tressilian. 
*'  I  do  well  remember  the  night  you  speak  of — one  of  the  few 
happy  evenings  my  life  has  known." 

"  She  is  gone,  then,"  said  the  smith,  interpreting  after  his 
own  fashion  the  sigh  with  which  Tressilian  uttered  these 
words — "she  is  gone,  young,  beautiful,  and  beloved  as  she 
was !  I  crave  your  worship's  pardon,  1  should  have  hammered 
on  another  theme — I  see  I  have  unwarily  driven  the  nail  to 
the  quick." 

This  speech  was  made  with  a  mixture  of  rude  feeling  which 
inclined  Tressilian  favourably  to  the  poor  artisan,  of  whom 
before  he  was  inclined  to  judge  very  harshly.  But  nothing 
can  so  soon  attract  the  unfortunate  as  real  or  seeming  sympathy 
with  their  sorrows. 

"I  think,"  proceeded  Tressilian,  after  a  minute's  silence, 
"  thou  wert  in  those  days  a  jovial  fellow,  who  could  keep  a 
company  merry  by  song,  and  tale,  and  rebeck,  as  well  as  by 
thy  juggling  tricks ;  why  do  I  find  thee  a  laborious  handicrafts- 
man, plying  thy  trade  in  so  melancholy  a  dwelling,  and  imder 
such  extraordinary  circumstances?" 

"My  story  is  not  long,"  said  the  artist;  "but  your  honour 
had  better  sit  while  you  listen  to  it."  So  saying,  he  ap- 
proached to  the  fire  a  three-footed  stool,  and  took  another 
himself,  while  Dickie  Sludge,  or  Flibbertigibbet,  as  he  called 
the  boy,  drew  a  cricket  to  the  smith's  feet,  and  looked  up  in 
his  face  with  features  which,  as  illuminated  by  the  glow  of 
the  forge,  seemed  convulsed  with  intense  curiosity.  "  Thou 
too,"  said  the  smith  to  him,  "shalt  learn,  as  thou  well  de- 
servest  at  my  hand,  the  brief  history  of  my  life,  and,  in  troth, 
it  were  as  well  tell  it  thee  as  leave  thee  to  ferret  it  out,  since 
nature  never  packed  a  shrewder  wit  into  a  more  imgainly 


142  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

casket.  Well,  sir,  if  my  poor  story  may  pleasure  you,  it  is 
at  your  command.  But  will  you  not  taste  a  stoup  of  liquor? 
I  promise  you  that  even  in  this  poor  cell  I  have  some  in  store." 

"SjDeak  not  of  it,"  said  Tressilian,  "but  go  on  Avitn.  thy 
story,  for  my  leisure  is  brief." 

"  You  shall  have  no  cause  to  rue  the  delay, "  said  the  smith, 
"  for  your  horse  shall  be  better  fed  in  the  mean  time  than  he 
hath  been  this  morning,  and  made  fitter  for  travel." 

With  that  the  artist  left  the  vault,  and  returned  after  afew 
minutes'  interval.  Here,  also,  we  pause,  that  the  narrative 
may  commence  in  another  chapter. 


CHAPTER  XI. 


I  say,  my  lord  can  siich  a  subtil ty 
( But  all  his  craft  ye  must  not  wot  of  me, 
And  somewhat  help  I  yet  to  his  working), 
That  all  the  ground  on  which  we  ben  riding, 
Till  that  we  come  to  Canterbury  town, 
He  can  all  clean  turnen  so  up  so  down, 
And  pave  it  all  of  silver  and  of  gold. 

The  Canoii's  Yeoman^s  Prologue — Canterhnry  Tales, 

The  artist  commenced  his  narrative  in  the  following  terms ; 

"  I  was  bred  a  blacksmith,  and  knew  my  art  as  well  as  e'er 
a  black-thumb' d,  leathern-apron' d,  swart-faced  knave  of  that 
noble  mystery.  But  I  tired  of  ringing  hanimer-tiuies  on  iron 
stithies,  and  went  out  into  the  world,  where  I  became  ac- 
quainted with  a  celebrated  juggler,  whose  fingers  had  become 
rather  too  stiff  for  legerdemain,  and  who  wished  to  have  the 
aid  of  an  apprentice  in  his  noble  mystery.  I  served  him  for 
six  years,  until  I  was  master  of  my  trade.  I  refer  myself  to 
your  worship,  whose  judgment  cannot  be  disputed,  whether  I 
did  not  learn  to  ply  the  craft  indifferently  weU?" 

"Excellently,"  said  Tressilian;   "but  be  brief," 

"  It  was  not  long  after  I  had  performed  at  Sir  Hugh  Eob- 
sart's,  in  your  worship's  presence,"  said  the  artist,  "that  I 
took  myself  to  the  stage,  and  have  swaggered  with  the  brav- 


KENILWORTH.  143 

est  of  them  all,  both  at  the  Black  Bull,  the  Globe,  the  For- 
tune, and  elsewhere;  but  I  know  not  how,  apples  were  so 
plenty  that  year  that  the  lads  in  the  twopenny  gallery  never 
took  more  than  one  bite  out  of  them,  and  threw  the  rest  of  the 
pippin  at  whatever  actor  chanced  to  be  on  the  stage.  So  I 
tired  of  it,  renounced  my  half -share  in  the  company,  gave  my 
foil  to  my  comrade,  my  buskins  to  the  wardrobe,  and  showed 
the  theatre  a  clean  pair  of  heels." 

"  Well,  friend,  and  what, "  said  Tressilian,  "  was  your  next 
shift?" 

''I  became,"  said  the  smith,  "  half -partner,  half -domestic, 
to  a  man  of  much  skill  and  little  substance,  who  practised  the 
trade  of  a  physicianer.'* 

"In  other  words,"  said  Tressilian,  "you  were  Jack  Pudding 
to  a  quacksalver." 

"Something  beyond  that,  let  me  hope,  my  good  Master 
Tressilian,"  replied  the  artist;  "and  yet,  to  say  truth,  our 
practice  was  of  an  adventurous  description,  and  the  pharmacy 
which  I  had  acquired  in  my  first  studies  for  the  benefit  of 
horses  was  frequently  applied  to  our  human  patients.  But 
the  seeds  of  all  maladies  are  the  same ;  and  if  turpentine,  tar, 
pitch,  and  beef -suet,  mmgled  with  turmerick,  gum-mastick, 
and  one  head  of  garlick,  can  cure  the  horse  that  hath  been 
grieved  with  a  nail,  I  see  not  but  what  it  may  benefit  the  man 
that  hath  been  pricked  with  a  sword.  But  my  master's  prac- 
tice, as  well  as  his  skill,  went  far  beyond  mme,  and  dealt  in 
more  dangerous  concerns.  He  was  not  only  a  bold,  adven- 
turous practitioner  in  physic,  but  also,  if  your  pleasure  so 
chanced  to  be,  an  adept,  who  read  the  stars,  and  expounded 
the  fortunes  of  mankind,  gel^thliacally,  as  he  called  it,  or 
otherwise.  He  was  a  learned  distiller  of  simples,  and  a  pro- 
foimd  chemist — made  several  efforts  to  fix  mercury,  and  judged 
himself  to  have  made  a  fair  hit  at  the  philosopher's  stone.  I 
have  yet  a  programme  of  his  on  that  subject,  which,  if  your 
honour  understandeth,  I  believe  you  have  the  better,  not  only 
of  all  who  read,  but  also  of  him  who  wrote  it. " 

He  gave  Tressilian  a  scroll  of  parchment,  bearing  at  top  and 
bottom,  and  down  the  margin,  the  signs  of  the  seven  planets, 


144  WAVER  LEY  NOVELS. 

curiously  intermingled  with  talismanical  characters,  and  scraps 
of  Greek  and  Hebrew.  In  the  midst  were  some  Latin  verses 
from  a  cabalistic  author,  written  out  so  fairly,  that  even  the 
gloom  of  the  place  did  not  prevent  Tressilian  from  reading 
them.     The  tenor  of  the  original  ran  as  follows : 

*'  Si  fixum  solvas,  faciasque  volare  solutum, 
Et  volucrem  figas,  facient  te  vivere  tutum ; 
Si  pariat  ventum,  valet  auri  pondere  centum ; 
Ventus  ubi  vult  spirat — capiat  qui  capere  potest," 

*'  I  protest  to  you, "  said  Tressilian,  "  all  I  understand  of  this 
jargon  is,  that  the  last  words  seem  to  mean  'Catch  who  catch 
can.*" 

"That,"  said  the  smith,  "is  the  very  principle  that  my 
worthy  friend  and  master.  Doctor  Doboobie,  always  acted 
upon;  until,  being  besotted  with  his  own  imaginations,  and 
■conceited  of  his  high  chemical  skill,  he  began  to  spend, 'in 
cheating  himself,  the  money  which  he  had  acquired  in  cheat- 
ing others,  and  either  discovered  or  built  for  himself,  I  could 
never  know  which,  this  secret  elaboratory,  in  which  he  used 
to  seclude  himself  both  from  patients  and  disciples,  who  doubt- 
less thought  his  long  and  mysterious  absences  from  his  ordi- 
nary residence  in  the  town  of  Farringdon  were  occasioned  by 
Shis  progress  in  the  mystic  sciences,  and  his  intercourse  with 
the  invisible  world.  Me  also  he  tried  to  deceive ;  but,  though 
I  contradicted  him  not,  he  saw  that  I  knew  too  much  of  his 
secrets  to  be  any  longer  a  safe  companion.  Meanwhile,  his 
name  waxed  famous,  or  rather  infamous,  and  many  of  those 
who  resorted  to  him  did  so  under  persuasion  that  he  was  a 
sorcerer.  And  yet  his  supposed  advance  in  the  occult  sciences 
drew  to  him  the  secret  resort  of  men  too  powerful  to  be  named, 
for  purposes  too  dangerous  to  be  mentioned.  Men  cursed  and 
threatened  him,  and  bestowed  on  me,  the  innocent  assistant  of 
his  studies,  the  nickname  of  the  Devil's  foot-post,  which  pro- 
cured me  a  volley  of  stones  as  soon  as  ever  I  ventured  to  show 
my  face  in  the  street  of  the  village.  At  length  my  master 
euddenly  disappeared,  pretending  to  me  that  he  was  about  to 
visit  his  elaboratory  in  this  place,  and  forbidding  me  to  disturb 


KENILWORTH.  145 

him  till  two  days  were  past.  When  this  period  had  elapsed, 
I  became  anxious,  and  resorted  to  this  vault,  where  I  found 
the  fires  extinguished  and  the  utensils  in  confusion,  with  a 
note  from  the  learned  Doboobius,  as  he  was  wont  to  style  him- 
self, acquainting  me  that  we  should  never  meet  again,  be- 
queathing me  his  chemical  apparatus  and  the  parchment  which 
I  have  just  put  into  your  hands,  advising  me  strongly  to  pros- 
ecute the  secret  which  it  contained,  which  would  infallibly 
lead  me  to  the  discovery  of  the  grand  magisterium." 

"And  didst  thou  follow  this  sage  advice?"  said  Tressilian. 

"Worshipful  sir,  no,"  replied  the  smith;  "for,  being  by 
nature  cautious,  and  suspicious  from  knowing  with  whom  I 
had  to  do,  I  made  so  many  perquisitions  before  I  ventured 
even  to  light  a  fire,  that  I  at  length  discovered  a  small  barrel 
of  gunpowder,  carefully  hid  beneath  the  furnace,  with  the 
purpose,  no  doubt,  that,  as  soon  as  I  should  commence  the 
grand  work  of  the  transmutation  of  metals,  the  explosion 
should  transmute  the  vault  and  all  in  it  into  a  heap  of  ruins, 
which  might  serve  at  once  for  my  slaughter-house  and  my 
grave.  This  cured  me  of  alchemy,  and  fain  would  I  have  re- 
turned to  the  honest  hammer  and  anvil ;  but  who  would  bring 
a  horse  to  be  shod  by  the  Devil's  post?  Meantime,  I  had 
won  the  regard  of  my  honest  Flibbertigibbet  here,  he  being 
then  at  Farringdon  with  his  master,  the  sage  Erasmus  Holi- 
day, by  teaching  him  a  few  secrets,  such  as  please  youth  at 
his  age;  and  after  much  counsel  together,  we  agreed  that, 
since  I  could  get  no  practice  in  the  ordinary  way,  I  should  try 
how  I  could  work  out  business  among  these  ignorant  boors  by 
practising  upon  their  silly  fears;  and,  thanks  to  Flibberti- 
gibbet, who  hath  spread  my  renown,  I  have  not  wanted  cus- 
tom. But  it  is  won  at  too  great  risk,  and  I  fear  I  shall  be  at 
length  taken  up  for  a  wizard;  so  that  I  seek  but  an  opportu- 
nity to  leave  this  vault  when  I  can  have  the  protection  of  some 
worshipful  person  agamst  the  fury  of  the  populace,  in  case 
they  chance  to  recognise  me." 

"  And  art  thou, "  said  Tressilian, "  perfectly  acquainted  with 
the  roads  in  this  country?" 

"I  could  ride  them  every  inch  by  midnight,"  answered 
10 


146  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

"Wayland  Smith,  which  was  the  name  this  adept  had  aa- 
sumed. 

"  Thou  hast  no  horse  to  ride  upon, "  said  Tressilian. 

"  Pardon  me, "  replied  Wayland,  "  I  have  as  good  a  tit  as 
ever  yeoman  bestrode ;  and  I  forgot  to  say  it  was  the  best  part 
of  the  mediciner's  legacy  to  me,  excepting  one  or  two  of  the 
choicest  of  his  medical  secrets,  which  I  picked  up  without  his 
knowledge  and  against  his  will, " 

"Get  thyself  washed  and  shaved  then,"  said  Tressilian; 
"  reform  thy  di-ess  as  well  as  thou  canst,  and  fling  away  these 
grotesque  trappings ;  and,  so  thou  wilt  be  secret  and  faithful, 
thou  shalt  follow  me  for  a  short  time,  till  thy  pranks  here  are 
forgotten.  Thou  hast,  I  thiak,  both  address  and  courage,  and 
I  have  matter  to  do  that  may  require  both." 

Wayland  Smith  eagerly  embraced  the  proposal,  and  pro- 
tested his  devotion  to  his  new  master.  In  a  very  few  minutes 
he  had  made  so  great  an  alteration  in  his  original  appearance, 
by  change  of  dress,  trimming  his  beard  and  hair,  and  so  forth, 
that  Tressilian  could  not  help  remarking,  that  he  thought  he 
would  stand  in  little  need  of  a  protector,  since  none  of  his  old 
acquaintance  were  likely  to  recognise  him. 

"My  debtors  would  not  pay  me  money,"  said  Wayland, 
shaking  his  head ;  "  but  my  creditors  of  every  kind  would  be 
less  easily  blinded.  Aiid,  in  truth,  I  hold  myself  not  safe, 
unless  under  the  protection  of  a  gentleman  of  birth  and  char- 
acter, as  is  your  worship." 

So  saying,  he  led  the  way  out  of  the  cavern.  He  then 
called  loudly  for  Hobgoblin,  who,  after  lingering  for  an  in- 
stant, appeared  with  the  horse  furniture,  when  Wayland  closed, 
and  sedulously  covered  up,  the  trap-door,  observing,  it  might 
again  serve  him  at  his  need,  besides  that  the  tools  were  worth 
somewhat.  A  whistle  from  the  owner  brought  to  his  side  a 
nag  that  fed  quietly  on  the  common,  and  was  accustomed  to 
the  signal.  While  he  accoutred  him  for  the  journey,  Tres- 
silian drew  his  own  girths  tighter,  and  in  a  few  minutes  both 
■were  ready  to  mount. 

At  this  moment  Sludge  approached  to  bid  them  farewell. 

"  You  are  going  to  leave  me,  then,  my  old  playfellow, "  said 


KENILWORTH.  14=7 

the  boy,  "and  there  is  an  end  of  all  our  game  at  bo-pee^D  with 
the  cowardly  lubbards  whom  I  brought  hither  to  have  their 
broad-footed  nags  shod  by  the  devil  and  his  imps?" 

"It  is  even  so,"  said  Wayland  Smith;  "the  best  friends 
must  part,  Flibbertigibbet;  but  thou,  my  boy,  art  the  only 
thing  in  the  Vale  of  Whitehorse  which  I  shall  regret  to  leave 
behind  me." 

"Well,  I  bid  thee  not  farewell, "  said  Dickie  Sludge,  "for 
you  will  be  at  these  revels,  I  judge,  and  so  shall  I ;  for  if 
Dominie  Holiday  take  me  not  thither,  by  the  light  of  day, 
which  we  see  not  in  yonder  dark  hole,  I  will  take  myself 
there!" 

"In  good  time,"  said  Wayland;  "but  I  pray  you  to  do 
nought  rashly." 

"Nay,  now  you  would  make  a  child — a  common  child  of 
me,  and  tell  me  of  the  risk  of  walking  without  leading-strings. 
But  before  you  are  a  mile  from  these  stones  you  shall  know 
by  a  sure  token  that  I  have  more  of  the  hobgoblin  about  me 
than  you  credit ;  and  I  will  so  manage  that,  if  you  take  ad- 
vantage, you  may  profit  by  my  prank." 

"What  dost  thou  mean,  boy?"  said  Tressilian ;  butFlibber* 
tigibbet  only  answered  with  a  grin  and  a  caper,  and  bidding 
both  of  them  farewell,  and  at  the  same  time  exhorting  them 
to  make  the  best  of  their  way  from  the  place,  he  set  them  the 
example  by  running  homeward  with  the  same  uncommon 
velocity  with  which  he  had  bafded  Tressilian's  former  at- 
tempts to  get  hold  of  him. 

"It  is  in  vain  to  chase  him,"  said  Wayland  Smith;  "for, 
tmless  your  worship  is  expert  in  lark-hunting,  we  should  never 
catch  hold  of  him;  and,  besides,  what  would  it  avail?  Better 
make  the  best  of  our  way  hence,  as  he  advises." 

They  mounted  their  horses  accordingly,  and  began  to  pro- 
ceed at  a  round  pace,  as  soon  as  Tressilian  had  exx^lained  to  his 
guide  the  direction  in  which  he  desired  to  travel. 

After  they  had  trotted  nearly  a  mile,  Tressilian  could  not 
help  observing  to  his  companion,  that  his  horse  felt  more  lively 
under  him  than  even  when  he  mounted  in  the  morning. 

"  Are  you  avised  of  that?"  said  Wayland  Smith,  smiling. 


148  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

*'  That  is  owing  to  a  little  secret  of  mine.  I  mixed  tliat  with 
an  handful  of  oats  which  shall  save  your  worship's  heels  th© 
trouble  of  spurring  these  six  hours  at  least.  Nay,  I  have  not 
studied  medicine  and  pharmacy  for  nought." 

"  I  trust, "  said  Tressilian,  "  your  di'ugs  will  do  my  horse  na 
harm?" 

"Ko  more  than  the  mare's  milk  which  foaled  him,"aji»j 
swered  the  artist ;  and  was  proceeding  to  dilate  on  the  excel- 
lence of  his  recipe,  when  he  was  interrupted  by  an  explosion 
as  loud  and  tremendous  as  the  mine  which  blows  up  the  ram- 
pari;  of  a  beleaguered  city.  The  horses  started,  and  the  riders 
were  equally  surprised.  They  turned  to  gaze  in  the  directioa 
from  which  the  thunder-clap  was  heard,  and  beheld,  just  over 
the  spot  they  had  left  so  recently,  a  huge  pillar  of  dark  smoke 
rising  high  into  the  clear  blue  atmosphere.  "  My  habitatioa 
is  gone  to  wreck,"  said  "Wayland,  immediately  conjecturing 
the  cause  of  the  explosion.  *'  I  was  a  fool  to  mention  the 
doctor's  kind  intentions  towards  my  mansion  before  that  limb 
of  mischief  Flibbertigibbet :  I  might  have  guessed  he  would 
long  to  put  so  rare  a  frolic  into  execution.  But  let  us  hasten 
on,  for  the  sound  will  collect  the  country  to  the  spot." 

So  saying,  he  spurred  his  horse,  and  Tressilian  also  quick* 
ening  his  speed,  they  rode  briskly  forward. 

"This,  then,  was  the  meaning  of  the  little  imp's  token 
which  he  promised  us?"  said  Tressilian;  "had  we  lingered 
near  the  spot,  we  had  found  it  a  love-token  with  a  vengeance." 

"  He  would  have  given  us  warning, "  said  the  smith ;  "  I  saw 
him  look  back  more  than  once  to  see  if  we  were  off — 'tis  a  very 
devil  for  mischief,  yet  not  an  ill-natured  devil  either.  It  were 
long  to  tell  your  honour  how  I  became  first  acquainted  with 
him,  and  how  many  tricks  he  played  me.  Many  a  good  turn 
he  did  me  too,  especially  in  bringing  me  customers ;  for  his 
great  delight  was  to  see  them  sit  shivering  behind  the  bushes 
when  they  heard  the  click  of  my  hammer.  I  think  Dame 
iNature,  when  she  lodged  a  double  quantity  of  brains  in  that 
misshapen  head  of  his,  gave  him  the  power  of  enjoying  other 
people's  distresses,  as  she  gave  them  the  pleasure  of  laughing 
at  his  ugliness." 


KENILWORTH.  149 

"  It  may  be  so, "  said  Tressilian ;  "  those  who  find  thpnLnelves 
severed  from  society  by  peculiarities  of  form,  if  they  do  not 
hate  the  common  bulk  of  mankind,  are  at  least  not  altogether 
indisposed  to  enjoy  their  mishaps  and  calamities." 

''But  Flibbertigibbet,"  answered  Wayland,  "hath  that 
about  him  which  may  redeem  his  turn  for  mischievous  frolic  j 
for  he  is  as  faithful  when  attached  as  he  is  tricky  and  malig- 
nant to  strangers;  and,  as  I  said  before,  I  have  cause  ta 
say  so." 

Tressilian  pursued  the  conversation  no  farther;  and  they 
continued  their  journey  towards  Devonshire  without  farther 
adventure,  until  they  alighted  at  an  inn  in  the  town  of  Marl- 
borough, since  celebrated  for  havmg  given  title  to  the  greatest 
general  (excepting  one)  whom  Britain  ever  produced.  Here 
the  travellers  received,  in  the  same  breath,  an  example  of  the 
truth  of  two  old  proverbs,  namely,  that  ID.  news  fly  fast,  and 
that  Listeners  seldom  hear  a  good  tale  of  themselves. 

The  innyard  was  in  a  sort  of  combustion  when  they  alighted; 
insomuch,  that  they  could  scarce  get  man  or  boy  to  take  care 
of  their  horses,  so  full  were  the  whole  household  of  some  news 
which  flew  from  tongue  to  tongue,  the  import  of  which  they 
were  for  some  time  unable  to  discover.  At  length,  indeed, 
they  found  it  respected  matters  which  touched  them  nearly. 

"What  is  the  matter,  say  you,  master?"  answered,  at 
length,  the  head  hostler,  in  reply  to  Tressilian' s  repeated  ques- 
tions. "  Why,  truly,  I  scarce  know  myself.  But  here  was  a 
rider  but  now,  who  says  that  the  devil  hath  flown  away  with 
him  they  called  Wayland  Smith,  that  won'd  about  thi-ee  miles 
from  the  Whitehorse  of  Berkshire,  this  very  blessed  morning, 
in  a  flash  of  fire  and  a  piUar  of  smoke,  and  rooted  up  the  place 
he  dwelt  in,  near  that  old  cockpit  of  upright  stones,  as  cleanly 
as  if  it  had  all  been  delved  up  for  a  cropping." 

"Why,  then,"  said  an  old  farmer,  "the  more  is  the  pity; 
for  that  Wayland  Smith — whether  he  was  the  devil's  crony  or 
no  I  skill  not — had  a  good  notion  of  horse  diseases,  and  it's  to 
be  thought  the  bots  will  spread  in  the  country  far  and  near, 
an  Satan  has  not  gien  un  time  to  leave  his  secret  behind  un." 

"You  may  say  that,  Gaffer  Grimesby,"  said  the  hostler  in 


150  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

return ;  "  I  liave  carried  a  horse  to  Wayland  Smitli  myself 
for  he  passed  all  farriers  in  this  country." 

"  Did  you  see  him?"  said  Dame  Alison  Crane,  mistress  ol 
the  inn  bearing  that  sign,  and  deigning  to  term  "husband" 
the  owner  thereof,  a  mean-looking  hop-o'-my-thumb  sort  of 
person,  whose  haltuig  gait,  and  long  neck,  and  meddling,  hen- 
pecked insignificance  are  supposed  to  have  given  origin  to  tha 
celebrated  old  English  tune  of  "  My  Dame  hath  a  lame  tauiQ 
Crane." 

On  this  occasion  he  chirped  out  a  repetition  of  his  wife's 
question:  "  Didst  see  the  devil.  Jack  Hostler,  I  say?" 

"And  what  if  I  did  see  un.  Master  Crane?"  replied  Jack 
Hostler,  for,  like  all  the  rest  of  the  household,  he  paid  as  little 
respect  to  his  master  as  his  mistress  herself  did. 

"Nay,  nought,  Jack  Hostler,"  replied  the  pacific  Master 
Crane,  "  only  if  you  saw  the  devil,  methinks  I  would  like  to 
know  what  un's  like?" 

"You  will  know  that  one  day,  Master  Crane,"  said  his 
helpmate,  "an  ye  mend  not  your  manners  and  mind  your 
business,  leaving  off  such  idle  palabras.  But  truly,  Jack 
Hostler,  I  should  be  glad  to  know  myself  what  like  the  fel- 
low was." 

"Why,  dame,"  said  the  hostler,  more  respectfully,  "as  for 
■what  he  was  like  I  cannot  tell,  nor  no  man  else,  for  why  I 
never  saw  un." 

"And  how  didst  thou  get  thine  errand  done,"  said  Gaffer 
Grimesby,  "  if  thou  seedst  him  not?" 

"Why,  I  had  schoolmaster  to  write  down  ailent  o'  nag," 
said  Jack  Hostler;  "and  I  went  wi'  the  ugliest  slip  of  a  boy 
for  my  guide  as  ever  man  cut  out  o'  lime-tree  root  to  please  a 
chHd  withal." 

"  And  what  was  it?  and  did  it  cure  your  nag,  Jack  Hostler?" 
was  uttered  and  echoed  by  all  who  stood  around. 

"Why,  how  can  I  tell  you  what  it  was?"  said  the  hostler; 
"  simply  it  smelled  and  tasted — for  I  did  make  bold  to  put  a 
pea's  substance  into  my  mouth — like  hartshorn  and  savia 
mixed  with  vinegar;  but  then  no  hartshorn  and  savin  ever 
wrought  so  speedy  a  cure.     And  I  am  di-eading  that,  if  Way 


KENILWORTH.  151 

land  Smith  be  gone,  the  bots  will  have  more  power  over 
horse  and  cattle." 

The  pride  of  art,  which  is  certainly  not  inferior  in  its  influ- 
ence to  any  other  pride  whatever,  here  so  far  operated  oa 
Wayland  Smith  that,  notwithstanding  the  obvious  danger  of 
his  being  recognised,  he  could  not  help  winking  to  Tressilian, 
and  smiling  mysteriously,  as  if  triumphing  in  the  undoubted 
evidence  of  his  veterinary  skill.  In  the  mean  while,  the  dis- 
course continued. 

"E'en  let  it  be  so,"  said  a  grave  man  in  black,  the  com- 
panion of  Gaffer  Grimesby — "  e'en  let  us  perish  under  the  evil 
God  sends  us,  rather  than  the  devil  be  our  doctor." 

"Very  true,"  said  Dame  Crane;  "and  I  marvel  at  Jack 
Hostler  that  he  would  peril  his  own  soul  to  cure  the  bowels  of 
a  nag." 

"  Very  true,  mistress, "  said  Jack  Hostler,  "  but  the  nag  was 
my  master's;  and  had  it  been  yours,  I  think  ye  would  ha' 
held  me  cheap  enow  an  I  had  feared  the  devil  when  the  poor 
beast  was  in  such  a  taking.  Eor  the  rest,  let  the  clergy  look 
to  it.  Every  man  to  his  craft,  says  the  proverb — the  parsoa 
to  the  prayer-book  and  the  groom  to  his  currycomb." 

"I  vow,"  said  Dame  Crane,  "I  think  Jack  E[ostler  speaks 
like  a  good  Christian  and  a  faithful  servant,  who  will  spare 
neither  body  nor  soul  in  his  master's  service.  However,  the 
devil  has  lifted  him  in  time,  for  a  constable  of  the  hundred 
came  hither  this  morning  to  get  old  Gaffer  Pinniewinks,  the 
trier  of  witches,  to  go  with  him  to  the  Vale  of  Whitehorse  to 
comprehend  Wayland  Smith,  and  put  him  to  his  probation. 
I  helped  Pinnie^vinks  to  sharpen  his  pincers  and  his  poking- 
awl,  and  I  saw  the  warrant  from  Justice  Blindas." 

"  Pooh — pooh,  the  devil  would  laugh  both  at  Blindas  and 
his  warrant,  constable  and  witch-finder  to  boot,"  said  old 
Dame  Crank,  the  Papist  laundress;  "Wayland  Smith's  flesh 
■would  mind  Piimiewinks's  awl  no  more  than  a  cambric  ruif 
minds  a  hot  piccadilloe  needle.  But  tell  me,  gentlefolks,  if 
the  devil  ever  had  such  a  hand  among  ye,  as  to  snatch  away 
your  smiths  and  your  artists  from  under  your  nose,  when  the 
good  abbots  of  Abingdon  had  their  own?     By  Our  Lady,  no  I 


152  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

they  had  their  hallowed  tapers,  and  their  holy  water,  and 
their  relics,  and  what  not,  could  send  the  foulest  fiends 
a-packing.  Go  ask  a  heretic  parson  to  do  the  like.  But  ours 
were  a  comfortable  people. " 

"  Very  true.  Dame  Crank, "  said  the  hostler ;  *'  so  said  Simp- 
kins  of  Simonburn  when  the  curate  kissed  his  wife — 'They 
are  a  comfortable  people,'  said  he." 

"  Silence,  thou  foul-mouthed  vermin, "  said  Dame  Crank ; 
*'  is  it  fit  for  a  heretic  horse-boy  like  thee  to  handle  such  a 
text  as  the  Catholic  clergy?" 

" In  troth  no,  dame,"  replied  the  man  of  oats ;  "  and  as  you 
yourself  are  now  no  text  for  their  handling,  dame,  whatever 
may  have  been  the  case  in  your  day,  I  think  we  had  e'en  better 
leave  un  alone." 

At  this  last  exchange  of  sarcasm.  Dame  Crank  set  up  her 
throat,  and  began  a  horrible  exclamation  against  Jack  Hostler, 
under  cover  of  which  Tressilian  and  his  attendant  escaped  into 
the  house. 

They  had  no  sooner  entered  a  private  chamber,  to  which 
Goodman  Crane  himself  had  condescended  to  usher  them,  and 
despatched  their  worthy  and  obsequious  host  on  the  errand 
of  procuring  wine  and  refreshment,  than  Way  land  Smith  began 
to  give  vent  to  his  self-importance. 

"  You  see,  sir,"  said  he,  addressing  Tressilian,  "that  I  noth- 
ing fabled  in  asserting  that  I  possessed  fully  the  mighty  mys- 
tery of  a  farrier,  or  mareschal,  as  the  French  more  honourably 
term  us.  These  dog-hostlers,  who,  after  all,  are  the  better 
judges  in  such  a  case,  know  what  credit  they  should  attach  to 
my  medicaments.  I  call  you  to  witness,  worshipful  Master 
Tressilian,  that  nought,  save  the  voice  of  calumny  and  the 
hand  of  malicious  violence,  hath  di-iven  me  forth  from  a  sta- 
tion in  which  I  held  a  place  alike  useful  and  honoured." 

"I  bear  witness,  my  friend,  but  will  reserve  my  listening," 
answered  Tressilian,  "for  a  safer  time;  unless,  indeed,  you 
deem  it  essential  to  your  reputation  to  be  translated,  like  your 
late  dwelling,  by  the  assistance  of  a  flash  of  fire.  For  you 
see  your  best  friends  reckon  you  no  better  than  a  mere  sor- 
cerer." 


KEXILWORTH.  153" 

"l^ow,  Heaven  forgive  them,"  said  the  artist,  "who  con* 
found  learned  skill  with  unlawful  magic !  I  trust  a  man  may 
be  as  skilful,  or  more  so,  than  the  best  chirurgeon  ever  meddled 
with  horse-flesh,  and  yet  may  be  upon  the  matter  little  more 
than  other  ordinary  men,  or  at  the  worst  no  conjurer. " 

"God  forbid  else!"  said  Tressilian.  "But  be  silent  just 
for  the  present,  since  here  comes  mine  host  with  an  assistant, 
who  seems  something  of  the  least." 

Everybody  about  the  inn.  Dame  Crank  [Crane]  herself  in- 
cluded, had  been  indeed  so  interested  and  agitated  by  the- 
story  they  had  heard  of  Wayland  Smith,  and  by  the  new, 
varying,  and  more  marvellous  editions  of  the  incident,  which 
arrived  from  various  quarters,  that  mine  host,  in  his  righteous 
determination  to  accommodate  his  guests,  had  been  able  to 
obtain  the  assistance  of  none  of  his  household,  saving  that  of 
a  little  boy,  a  junior  tapster,  of  about  twelve  years  old,  who 
was  called  Sampson. 

"  I  wish, "  he  said,  apologising  to  his  guests,  as  he  set  down 
a  flagon  of  sack,  and  promised  some  food  immediately — "I 
wish  the  devil  had  flown  away  with  my  wife  and  my  whole 
family  instead  of  this  Wayland  Smith,  who,  I  dare  say,  after 
all  said  and  done,  was  much  less  worthy  of  the  distinction 
which  Satan  has  done  him." 

"  I  hold  opinion  with  you,  good  fellow, "  replied  Wayland 
Smith ;  "  and  I  will  drink  to  you  upon  that  argument. " 

"Not  that  I  would  justify  any  man  who  deals  with  the 
devil,"  said  mine  host,  after  having  pledged  Wayland  in  a 
rousing  draught  of  sack,  "  but  that — saw  ye  ever  better  sack, 
my  masters? — but  that,  I  say,  a  man  had  better  deal  with  a 
dozen  cheats  and  scoundrel  fellows,  such  as  this  Wayland 
Smith,  than  with  a  devil  incarnate,  that  takes  possession  of 
house  and  home,  bed  and  board." 

The  poor  fellow's  detail  of  grievances  was  here  interrupted 
by  the  shrill  voice  of  his  helpmate,  screaming  from  the  kitchen, 
to  which  he  instantly  hobbled,  craving  pardon  of  his  guests. 
He  was  no  sooner  gone  than  Wayland  Smith  expressed,  by 
every  contemptuous  epithet  in  the  language,  his  utter  scorn 
for  a  nincompoop  who  stuck  his  head  under  his  wife's  apron- 


154  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

string ;  and  intimated  that,  saving  for  the  sake  of  the  horses, 
•which  required  both  rest  and  food,  he  would  advise  his  wor- 
shipful Master  Tressilian  to  push  on  a  stage  farther,  rather 
than  pay  a  reckoning  to  such  a  mean-spirited,  crow-trodden, 
henpecked  coxcomb  as  Gaffer  Crane. 

The  arrival  of  a  large  dish  of  good  cow-heel  and  bacon  some- 
thing soothed  the  asperity  of  the  artist,  which  wholly  vanished 
before  a  choice  capon,  so  delicately  roasted  that  "the  lard 
frothed  on  it,"  said  Wajdand,  "like  May-dew  on  a  lilv";  and 
both  Gaffer  Crane  and  his  good  dame  became,  in  1^  eyes, 
very  painstaking,  accommodating,  obliging  persons. 

According  to  the  manners  of  the  times,  the  master  and  his 
attendant  sat  at  the  same  table,  and  the  latter  observed,  with 
regret,  how  little  attention  Tressilian  paid  to  his  meal.  He 
recollected,  indeed,  the  pain  he  had  given  by  mentioning  the 
maiden  in  whose  company  he  had  first  seen  him ;  but,  fearful 
of  touching  upon  a  topic  too  tender  to  be  tampered  with,  he 
chose  to  ascribe  his  abstinence  to  another  cause. 

"This  fare  is  perhaps  too  coarse  for  your  worship,"  said 
Wayland,  as  the  limbs  of  the  capon  disappeared  before  his 
own  exertions;  "but  had  you  dwelt  as  long  as  I  have  done  in 
yonder  dungeon,  which  Flibbertigibbet  has  translated  to  the 
upper  element,  a  place  where  I  dared  hardly  boil  my  food, 
lest  the  smoke  should  be  seen  without,  you  would  think  a 
fair  capon  a  more  welcome  dainty. " 

"  If  you  are  pleased,  friend, "  said  Tressilian,  "  it  is  well. 
Nevertheless,  hasten  thy  meal  if  thou  canst,  for  this  place  is 
unfriendly  to  thy  safety,  and  my  concerns  crave  travelling." 

Allowing,  therefore,  their  horses  no  more  rest  than  was 
absolutely  necessary  for  them,  they  pursued  their  journey  by 
a  forced  march  as  far  as  Bradford,  where  they  reposed  them- 
selves for  the  night. 

The  next  morning  found  them  early  travellers.  And,  not 
to  fatigue  the  reader  with  unnecessary  particulars,  they  trav- 
versed  without  adventure  the  counties  of  Wiltshire  and  Somer- 
set, and,  about  noon  of  the  third  day  after  Tressilian' s  leav- 
ing Cunmor,  arrived  at  Sir  Hugh  Eobsart's  seat,  called 
Lidcote  Hall,  on  the  frontiers  of  Devonshire. 


KENILWORTH.  165 


CHAPTER   XII. 

Ah  me !  the  flower  and  blossom  of  your  house, 
The  wind  hath  blown  away  to  other  towers. 

Joanna  Baillie's  Family  Legend. 

The  ancient  seat  of  Lidcote  HaU  was  situated  near  the 
village  of  the  same  name,  and  adjoined  the  wild  and  extensive 
forest  of  Exnioor,  plentifully  stocked  with  game,  in  which 
some  ancient  rights  belonging  to  the  Robsart  family  entitled 
Sir  Hugh  to  pursue  his  favourite  amusement  of  the  chase. 
The  old  mansion  was  a  low,  venerable  building,  occupying  a 
considerable  space  of  ground,  which  was  surrounded  by  a  deep 
moat.  The  approach  and  drawbridge  were  defended  by  an 
octagonal  tower,  of  ancient  brickwork,  but  so  clothed  with 
ivy  and  other  creepers  that  it  was  difficult  to  discover  of  what 
materials  it  was  constructed.  The  angles  of  this  tower  were 
each  decorated  with  a  turret,  whimsically  various  in  form  and 
in  size,  and,  therefore,  very  unlike  the  monotonous  stone 
pepper-boxes  which,  in  modern  Gothic  architecture,  are  em- 
ployed for  the  same  purpose.  One  of  these  turrets  was  square, 
and  occupied  as  a  clock-house.  But  the  clock  was  now  stand- 
ing still — a  circumstance  peculiarly  striking  to  Tressilian,  be- 
cause the  good  old  kjiight,  among  other  harmless  peculiarities, 
had  a  fidgety  anxiety  about  the  exact  measurement  of  time, 
very  common  to  those  who  have  a  great  deal  of  that  commodity 
to  dispose  of,  and  find  it  lie  heavy  upon  their  hands — just  as 
we  see  shop-keepers  amuse  themselves  with  taking  an  exact 
account  of  their  stock  at  the  time  there  is  least  demand  for  it. 

The  entrance  to  the  courtyard  of  the  old  mansion  lay 
through  an  archway,  surmounted  by  the  foresaid  tower,  but 
the  di-awbridge  was  down,  and  one  leaf  of  the  iron-studded 
folding-doors  stood  carelessly  open.  Tressilian  hastily  rode 
over  the  drawbridge,  entered  the  court,  and  began  to  call 
loudly  on  the  domestics  by  their  names.  For  some  time  he 
was  only  answered  by  the  echoes  and  the  howling  of  the 
hounds,  whose  kennel  lay  at  no  great  distance  from  the  man- 


156  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

sion,  and  was  surrounded  by  the  same  moat.  At  length  Will 
Badger,  the  old  and  favourite  attendant  of  the  knight,  who 
acted  alike  as  squire  of  his  body  and  superintendent  of  his 
sports,  made  his  appearance.  The  stout,  weather-beaten 
forester  showed  great  signs  of  joy  when  he  recognised  Tres- 
silian. 

"  Lord  love  you, "  he  said,  "  Master  Edmund,  be  it  thou  in 
flesh  and  fell?  Then  thou  mayst  do  some  good  on  Sir  Hugh, 
for  it  passes  the  wit  of  man — that  is,  of  mine  own,  and  the 
curate's,  and  Master  Mumblazen's — to  do  aught  wi'  un." 

"Is  Sir  Hugh  then  worse  since  I  went  away,  "Will?"  de- 
manded Tressilian. 

"  For  worse  in  body — no,  he  is  much  better, "  replied  the 
domestic ;  "  but  he  is  clean  mazed  as  it  were — eats  and  drinks 
as  he  was  wont,  but  sleeps  not,  or  rather  wakes  not,  for  he  is 
ever  in  a  sort  of  twilight,  that  is  neither  sleeping  nor  waking. 
Dame  S winef ord  thought  it  was  like  the  dead  palsy.  '  But  no 
• — no,  dame,'  said  I,  'it  is  the  heart — it  is  the  heart.'  " 

"Can  ye  not  stir  his  mind  to  any  pastimes?"  said  Tres- 
silian. 

"He  is  clean  and  quite  off  his  sports,"  said  Will  Badger; 
"  hath  neither  touched  backgammon  or  shovel-board,  nor  looked 
on  the  big  book  of  harrowtry  wi'  Master  Mumblazen.  I  let 
the  clock  run  down,  thinking  the  missing  the  bell  might  some- 
what move  him,  for  you  know,  Master  Edmund,  he  was  par- 
ticular in  counting  time;  but  he  never  said  a  word  on't,  so 
I  may  e'en  set  the  old  chime  a-towling  again.  I  made  bold 
to  tread  on  Bungay's  tail  too,  and  you  know  what  a  round 
rating  that  would  ha'  cost  me  once  a  day ;  but  he  minded  the 
poor  tyke's  whine  no  more  than  a  madge-howlet  whooping 
down  the  chimney :  so  the  case  is  beyond  me. " 

"Thou  shalt  tell  me  the  rest  within  doors.  Will.  Mean- 
while, let  this  person  be  ta'en  to  the  buttery,  and  used  with  re- 
spect.    He  is  a  man  of  art. " 

"  White  art  or  black  art,  I  would, "  said  Will  Badger,  "  that 
he  had  any  art  which  could  help  us.  Here,  Tom  Butler,  look 
to  the  man  of  art;  and  see  that  he  steals  none  of  thy  spoons, 
lad, "  he  added  in  a  whisper  to  the  butler,  who  showed  him- 


KENILWORTH.  157 

self  at  a  low  wiiidow,  "  I  have  known  as  honest  a  faced  fellow 
iiave  art  enough  to  do  that." 

He  then  ushered  Tressilian  into  a  low  parlour,  and  went, 
at  his  desire,  to  see  in  what  state  his  master  was,  lest  the 
sudden  return  of  his  darling  pupil,  and  proposed  son-in-law, 
should  affect  him  too  strongly.  He  returned  immediately, 
and  said  that  Sir  Hugh  was  dozing  in  his  elbow-chair,  but  that 
Master  Mumblazen  would  acquaint  Master  Tressilian  the  in- 
stant he  awaked. 

"But  it  is  chance  if  he  knows  you,"  said  the  huntsman, 
"  for  he  has  forgotten  the  name  of  every  hound  in  the  pack. 
I  thought  about  a  week  since  he  had  gotten  a  favourable  turn. 
''  Saddle  me  old  Sorrel, '  said  he,  suddenly,  after  he  had  taken 
his  usual  night-di-aught  out  of  the  great  silver  grace-cup,  'and 
take  the  hounds  to  Mount  Hazelhurst  to-morrow.'  Glad  men 
were  we  all,  and  out  we  had  him  in  the  morning,  and  he  rode 
to  cover  as  usual,  with  never  a  word  spoken  but  that  the  wind 
was  south  and  the  scent  would  lie.  But  ere  we  had  uncoupled 
the  hounds,  he  began  to  stare  round  him,  like  a  man  that 
wakes  suddenly  out  of  a  dream — turns  bridle  and  walks  back 
to  hall  again,  and  leaves  us  to  hunt  at  leisure  by  ourselves,  if 
we  listed." 

"You  tell  a  heavy  tale,  Will,"  replied  Tressilian;  "but 
God  must  help  us — there  is  no  aid  in  man." 

"  Then  you  bring  us  no  news  of  young  Mistress  Amy?  But 
•what  need  I  ask — your  brow  tells  the  story.  Ever  I  hoped 
that,  if  any  man  could  or  would  track  her,  it  must  be  you. 
All's  over  and  lost  now.  But  if  ever  I  have  that  Varney 
within  reach  of  a  flight-shot,  I  will  bestow  a  forked  shaft  on 
him;  and  that  I  swear  by  salt  and  bread." 

As  he  spoke,  the  door  opened,  and  Master  Mumblazen  ap- 
peared— a  withered,  thin,  elderly  gentleman,  with  a  cheek 
like  a  winter  apple,  and  his  grey  hair  partly  concealed  by  a 
small  high  hat,  shaped  like  a  cone,  or  rather  like  such  a 
strawberry-basket  as  London  fruiterers  exhibit  at  their  win- 
dows. He  was  too  sententious  a  person  to  waste  words  on 
mere  salutation ;  so,  having  welcomed  Tressilian  with  a  nod 
and  a  shake  of  the  hand,  he  beckoned  him  to  follow  to  Sir 


158  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

Hugh's  great  chamber,  which  the  good  knight  usually  in- 
habited. Will  Badger  followed,  unasked,  anxious  to  see 
whether  his  master  would  be  relieved  from  his  state  of  apathy 
by  the  arrival  of  Tressilian. 

In  a  long  low  parlour,  amply  furnished  with  implements  of 
the  chase,  and  with  silvan  trophies,  by  a  massive  stone 
chimney,  over  which  hung  a  sword  and  suit  of  armour,  some- 
what obscured  by  neglect,  sat  Sir  Hugh  Eobsart  of  Lidcote,  a 
man  of  large  size,  which  had  been  only  kept  within  moderate 
compass  by  the  constant  use  of  violent  exercise.  It  seemed 
to  Tressilian  that  the  lethargy  under  which  his  old  friend  ap- 
peared to  labour  had,  even  during  his  few  weeks'  absence, 
added  bulk  to  his  j)erson ;  at  least  it  had  obviously  diminished 
the  vivacity  of  his  eye,  which,  as  they  entered,  first  followed 
Master  Mumblazen  slowly  to  a  large  oaken  desk,  on  which  a 
ponderous  volume  lay  open,  and  then  rested,  as  if  in  vmcer- 
tainty,  on  the  stranger  who  had  entered  along  with  him.  The 
curate,  a  grey-headed  clergyman,  who  had  been  a  confessor  in 
the  days  of  Queen  Mary,  sat  with  a  book  in  his  hand  in  an- 
other recess  in  the  apartment.  He,  too,  signed  a  mournful 
greeting  to  Tressilian,  and  laid  his  book  aside,  to  watch  the 
elfect  his  appearance  should  produce  on  the  afflicted  old 
man. 

As  Tressilian,  his  own  eyes  filling  fast  with  tears,  ap- 
proached more  and  more  nearly  to  the  father  of  his  betrothed 
bride,  Sir  Hugh's  intelligence  seemed  to  revive.  He  sighed 
heavily,  as  one  who  awakens  from  a  state  of  stupor,  a  slight 
convulsion  passed  over  his  features,  he  opened  his  arms  with- 
out speaking  a  word,  and,  as  Tressilian  threw  himself  into 
them,  he  folded  him  to  his  bosom. 

"  There  is  something  left  to  live  for  yet, "  were  the  first 
words  he  uttered;  and  while  he  spoke,  he  gave  vent  to  his 
feelings  in  a  paroxysm  of  weeping,  the  tears  chasing  each 
other  down  his  sunburnt  cheeks  and  long  white  beard. 

"  I  ne'er  thought  to  have  thanked  God  to  see  my  master 
weep, "  said  Will  Badger ;  "  but  now  I  do,  though  I  am  like  to 
"weep  for  company." 

*'  I  will  ask  thee  no  questions, "  said  the  old  knight — "  no 


KENILWORTH.  159 

questions — none,  Edmund;    thou  hast  not  found   her,  or  so 
found  her  that  she  were  better  lost." 

Tressilian  Avas  unable  to  reply,  otherwise  than  by  putting 
his  hands  before  his  face. 

"  It  is  enough — it  is  enough.  But  do  not  thou  weep  for 
her,  Edmund.  I  have  cause  to  weep,  for  she  was  my  daughter; 
thou  hast  cause  to  rejoice,  that  she  did  not  become  thy  wife. 
Great  God !  Thou  knowest  best  what  is  good  for  us.  It  was 
my  nightly  prayer  that  I  should  see  Amy  and  Edmund  wedded; 
had  it  been  granted,  it  had  now  been  gall  added  to  bitter- 
ness." 

"Be  comforted,  my  friend,"  said  the  curate,  addressing  Sir 
Hugh,  "  it  cannot  be  that  the  daughter  of  all  our  hopes  and 
affections  is  the  vile  creature  you  would  bespeak  her. " 

"  Oh,  no, "  replied  Sir  Hugh,  impatiently,  "  I  were  wrong  to 
name  broadly  the  base  thing  she  is  become ;  there  is  some  new 
court  name  for  it,  I  warrant  me.  It  is  honour  enough  for  the 
daughter  of  an  old  De'nshire  clown  to  be  the  leman  of  a  gay 
courtier — of  Varney  too — of  Varney,  whose  grandsire  was 
relieved  by  my  father,  when  his  fortune  was  broken,  at  the 
battle  of — the  battle  of — where  Eichard  was  slain ;  out  on  my 
memory !  and  1  warrant  none  of  you  will  help  me " 

"The  battle  of  Bosworth,"  said  Master  Mumblazen, 
"  stricken  between  Eichard  Crookback  and  Heni-y  Tudor, 
grandsire  of  the  Queen  that  now  is,  pHvio  Henrici  Septimi, 
and  in  the  year  one  thousand  four  hundred  and  eighty-five 
post  Christum  natnm."  ' 

"Ay,  even  so,"  said  the  old  knight,  "every  child  knows  it. 
But  my  poor  head  forgets  all  it  should  remember,  and  remem- 
bers only  what  it  would  most  willingly  forget.  My  brain 
has  been  at  fault,  Tressilian,  almost  ever  since  thou  hast  been 
away,  and  even  yet  it  hunts  counter. " 

"  Your  worship, "  said  the  good  clergyman,  "  had  better  re- 
tire to  your  apartment,  and  try  to  sleep  for  a  little  space :  the 
physician  left  a  composing  draught,  and  our  Great  Physician 
has  commanded  us  to  use  earthly  means,  that  we  may  b© 
strengthened  to  sustain  the  trials  He  sends  us." 

»  [Compare  p.  114,  where  the  battle  of  Stoke  is  spoken  of.] 


160  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

"  True — true,  old  friend, "  said  Sir  Hugh,  "  and  we  will  bear 
our  trials  manfully.  AVe  have  lost  but  a  woman.  See,  Tres- 
silian" — he  drew  from  his  bosom  a  long  ringlet  of  glossy  hair 
— "see  this  lock!  I  tell  thee,  Edmund,  the  very  night  sh& 
disappeared,  when  she  bid  me  good  even,  as  she  was  wont, 
she  hung  about  my  neck  and  fondled  me  more  than  usiial ;  and 
I,  like  an  old  fool,  held  her  by  this  lock,  until  she  took  her 
scissors,  severed  it,  and  left  it  in  my  hand — as  all  I  was  ever 
to  see  more  of  her!" 

Tressilian.  was  unable  to  reply,  well  judging  what  a  compli- 
cation of  feelings  must  have  crossed  the  bosom  of  the  unhappy 
fugitive  at  that  cruel  moment.  The  clergyman  was  about  to 
speak,  but  Sir  Hugh  interrupted  him. 

"  I  know  what  you  would  say.  Master  Curate — after  all,  it 
is  but  a  lock  of  woman's  tresses,  and  by  woman  shame,  and 
sin,  and  death  came  into  an  innocent  world.  And  learned 
Master  Mumblazen,  too,  can  say  scholarly  things  of  their  in- 
feriority. " 

"  C^est  Vhomme,^^  said  Master  Mumblazen,  " qui  se  bast,  eS 
qui  conseille." 

"True,"  said  Sir  Hugh,  "and  we  will  bear  us,  therefore, 
like  men  who  have  both  mettle  and  wisdom  in  us.  Tressilian, 
thou  art  as  welcome  as  if  thou  hadst  brought  better  news.  But 
we  have  spoken  too  long  dry-lipped.  Amy,  fill  a  cup  of  wine 
to  Edmund  and  another  to  me."  Then  instantly  recollecting- 
that  he  called  upon  her  who  could  not  hear,  he  shook  his  head, 
and  said  to  the  clergyman :  "  This  grief  is  to  my  bewildered 
mind  what  the  church  of  Lidcote  is  to  our  park :  we  may  lose 
ourselves  among  the  briars  and  thickets  for  a  little  space,  but 
from  the  end  of  each  avenue  we  see  the  old  grey  steeple  and 
the  grave  of  my  forefathers.  I  would  I  were  to  travel  that 
road  to-morrow!" 

Tressilian  and  the  curate  joined  in  urging  the  exhausted 
old  man  to  lay  himself  to  rest,  and  at  length  prevailed.  Tres- 
silian remained  by  his  pillow  till  he  saw  that  slumber  at 
length  sunk  down  on  him,  and  then  returned  to  consult  with 
the  curate  what  steps  should  be  adopted  in  these  unhappy  cir- 
cumstances. 


KEXILWORTH.  161 

They  could  not  exclude  from  these  deliberations  Master 
!RIichael  Muniblazen ;  and  they  admitted  him  the  more  readily 
that,  besides  what  hopes  they  entertained  from  his  sagac- 
ity, they  knew  him  to  be  so  great  a  friend  to  taciturnity  that 
there  was  no  doubt  of  his  keeping  counsel.  He  was  an  old 
bachelor  of  good  family,  but  small  fortune,  and  distantly  re- 
lated to  the  house  of  Robsart ;  in  virtue  of  which  connexion, 
Lidcote  Hall  had  been  honoured  with  his  residence  for  the 
last  twenty  years.  His  company  was  agreeable  to  Sir  Hugh, 
chiefly  on  account  of  his  profound  learning,  which,  though  it 
only  related  to  heraldry  and  genealogy,  with  such  scraps  of 
history  as  connected  themselves  with  these  subjects,  was  pre- 
cisely of  a  kind  to  captivate  the  good  old  knight ;  besides  the 
convenience  which  he  found  in  having  a  friend  to  appeal  to, 
when  his  own  memory,-  as  frequently  happened,  proved  infirm, 
and  played  him  false  concerning  names  and  dates,  which,  and 
all  similar  deficiencies,  Master  Michael  Mumblazen  supplied 
with  due  brevity  and  discretion.  And,  indeed,  in  matters 
concerning  the  modern  world,  he  often  gave,  in  his  enigmatical 
and  heraldic  phrase,  advice  which  was  well  worth  attending 
to,  or,  in  Will  Badger's  language,  started  the  game  while 
others  beat  the  bush. 

"  We  have  had  an  unhaEppy  time  of  it  with  the  good  knight, 
Master  Edmund,"  said  the  curate.  "I  have  not  suffered  so 
much  since  I  was  torn  away  from  my  beloved  flock,  and  com- 
pelled to  abandon  them  to  the  Eomish  wolves." 

"  That  was  in  tertio  3Ia7'ice,"  said  Master  Mumblazen. 

"  In  the  name  of  Heaven, "  continued  the  curate,  "  tell  us, 
has  your  time  been  better  spent  than  ours,  or  have  you  any 
news  of  that  unhappy  maiden,  who,  being  for  so  many  years 
the  principal  joy  of  this  broken-down  house,  is  now  proved 
our  greatest  unhappiness?  Have  you  not  at  least  discovered 
her  place  of  residence?" 

" I  have, "  replied  Tressilian.  "Know  you  Cumnor  Place, 
near  Oxford?" 

"  Surely, "  said  the  clergyman ;  "  it  w.as  a  house  of  removal 
for  the  monks  of  Abingdon." 

"  Whose  arms, "  said  Master  Michael,  "  I  have  seen  over  a 
11 


162  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

stone  chimney  in  the  hall — a  cross  patonc^  betwixt  four 
martlets." 

"  There, "  said  Tressilian,  "  this  unhappy  maiden  resides, 
in  company  with  the  villain  Varney.  But  for  a  strange  mis- 
hap, my  sword  had  revenged  all  our  injuries,  as  well  as  hers, 
on  his  worthless  head." 

"Thank  God,  that  kept  thine  hand  from  blood-guiltiness, 
rash  young  man!"  answered  the  curate.  "'Vengeance  is 
mine,  saith  the  Lord,  and  I  will  repay  it.'  It  were  better 
study  to  free  her  from  the  villain's  nets  of  infamy." 

"  They  are  called,  in  heraldry,  laquel  amoris,  or  lacs 
d' amour,"  said  Mumblazen. 

"  It  is  in  that  I  require  your  aid,  my  friends, "  said  Tres- 
silian ;  "  I  am  resolved  to  accuse  this  villain,  at  the  very  foot 
of  the  throne,  of  falsehood,  seduction,  and  breach  of  hospitable 
laws.  The  Queen  shall  hear  me,  though  the  Earl  of  Leicester, 
the  villain's  patron,  stood  at  her  right  hand." 

"  Her  Grace, "  said  the  curate,  "  hath  set  a  comely  example 
of  continence  to  her  subjects,  and  will  doubtless  do  justice  on 
this  inhospitable  robber.  But  wert  thou  not  better  apply  to 
the  Earl  of  Leicester,  in  the  first  place,  for  justice  on  his 
servant?  If  he  grants  it,  thou  dost  save  the  risk  of  making 
thyself  a  powerful  adversary,  which  will  certainly  chance  if, 
in  the  first  instance,  you  accuse  his  master  of  the  horse  and 
prime  favourite  before  the  Queen." 

"  My  mind  revolts  from  your  counsel,"  said  Tressilian.  "  I 
cannot  brook  to  plead  my  noble  patron's  cause — the  unhappy 
Amy's  cause — before  any  one  save  my  lawful  sovereign. 
Leicester,  thou  wilt  say,  is  noble;  be  it  so,  he  is  but  a  subject 
like  ourselves,  and  I  will  not  carry  my  plaint  to  him,  if  I  can 
do  better.  Still,  I  will  think  on  what  thou  hast  said :  but  I 
must  have  your  assistance  to  persuade  the  good  Sir  Hugh  to 
make  me  his  commissioner  and  fiduciary  in  this  matter,  for  it 
is  in  his  name  I  must  speak,  and  not  in  my  own.  Since  she  is 
so  far  changed  as  to  dote  upon  this  empty  profligate  courtier, 
he  shall  at  least  do  her  the  justice  which  is  yet  in  his  power." 

"Better  she  died  ccelebs  and  sine  i^role"  said  Mumblazen, 
with  more  animation  than  he  usually  expressed,  "  than  part. 


KENILWORTH.  163 

per  pale,  the  noble  coat  of  Eobsart  with  that  of  such  a  mis- 
creant!" 

"  If  it  be  your  object,  as  I  cannot  question, "  said  the  clergy- 
man, "  to  save,  as  much  as  is  yet  possible,  the  credit  of  this 
unhappy  young  woman,  I  repeat,  you  should  apply,  in  the  first 
instance,  to  the  Earl  of  Leicester.  He  is  as  absolute  in  his 
household  as  the  Queen  in  her  kingdom,  and  if  he  expresses  to  ' 
Varney  that  such  is  his  pleasure,  her  honour  will  not  stand  so 
publicly  committed." 

"You  are  right — you  are  right,"  said  Tressilian,  eagerly, 
"  and  I  thank  you  for  pointing  out  what  I  overlooked  in  my 
haste.  I  little  thought  ever  to  have  besought  grace  of  Leices- 
ter j  but  I  could  kneel  to  the  proud  Dudley,  if  doing  so  could 
remove  one  shade  of  shame  from  this  unhappy  damsel.  Yon 
will  assist  me,  then,  to  procure  the  necessary  powers  from  Sir 
Hugh  Eobsart?" 

The  curate  assured  him  of  his  assistance,  and  the  herald 
nodded  assent. 

"  You  must  hold  yourselves  also  in  readiness  to  testify,  ia 
case  you  are  called  upon,  the  open-hearted  hospitality  which 
our  good  patron  exercised  towards  this  deceitful  traitor,  and 
the  solicitude  with  which  he  laboured  to  seduce  his  unhappy 
daughter. " 

"  At  first, "  said  the  clergyman,  "  she  did  not,  as  it  seemed 
to  me,  much  affect  his  company,  but  latterly  I  saw  them  oftea 
together. " 

"  Seiant  in  the  parlour, "  said  Michael  Mumblazen,  "  and 
passant  in  the  garden." 

"  I  once  came  on  them  by  chance, "  said  the  priest,  "  in  the 
South  wood  in  a  spring  evening;  Yarney  was  mufiled  in  a 
russet  cloak,  so  that  I  saw  not  his  face ;  they  separated  hastily, 
as  they  heard  me  rustle  amongst  the  leaves,  and  I  observed 
she  turned  her  head  and  looked  long  after  him." 

"With  neck  reguardant,^^  said  the  herald;  "and  on  the  day 
of  her  flight,  and  that  was  on  St.  Austen's  Eve,  I  saw  Varney's 
groom,  attired  in  his  liveries,  hold  his  master's  horse  and  Mis- 
tress Amy's  palfrey,  bridled  and  saddled  pro-per,  behind  the 
wall  of  the  churchyard." 


164  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

"  And  now  is  she  found  mewed  up  in  liis  secret  place  of 
retirement,"  said  Tressilian.  "The  villain  is  taken  in  the 
manner,  and  I  well  wish  he  may  deny  his  crime,  that  I  may 
thrust  conviction  down  his  false  throat!  But  I  must  prepare 
for  my  journey.  Do  you,  gentlemen,  dispose  my  patron  to 
grant  me  such  powers  as  are  needful  to  act  in  his  name." 

So  saymg,  Tressilian  left  the  room. 

"  He  is  too  hot, "  said  the  eurate ;  "  and  I  pray  to  God  that 
He  may  grant  him  the  patience  to  deal  with  Varney  as  is  fit- 
ting." 

"  Patience  and  Varney, "  said  Mumblazen,  "  is  worse  heraldry 
than  metal  upon  metal.  He  is  more  false  than  a  siren,  more 
rapacious  than  a  griffin,  more  poisonous  than  a  wyvern,  and 
more  cruel  than  a  lion  rampant." 

"  Yet  I  doubt  much, "  said  the  curate,  "  whether  he  can  with 
propriety  ask  from  Sir  Hugh  Robsart,  being  in  his  present 
condition,  any  deed  deputing  his  paternal  right  in  Mistress 
Amy  to  whomsoever " 

"  Your  reverence  need  not  doubt  that, "  said  Will  Badger, 
who  entered  as  he  spoke,  "  for  I  will  lay  my  life  he  is  another 
man  when  he  wakes  than  he  has  been  these  thirty  days 
past." 

"  Ay,  Will, "  said  the  curate,  "  hast  thou  then  so  much  con- 
fidence in  Doctor  Diddleum's  draught?" 

"Not  a  whit,"  said  Will,  "because  master  ne'er  tasted  a 
drop  on't,  seeing  it  was  emptied  out  by  the  housemaid.  But 
here's  a  gentleman,  who  came  attending  on  Master  Tressilian, 
has  given  Sir  Hugh  a  draught  that  is  worth  twenty  of  yon  un. 
I  have  spoken  cunningly  with  him,  and  a  better  farrier,  or 
one  who  hath  a  more  just  notion  of  horse  and  dog  ailment,  I 
have  never  seen;  and  such  a  one  would  never  be  unjust  to  a 
Christian  man." 

-"  A  farrier !  you  saucy  groom.  And  by  whose  authority, 
pray?"  said  the  curate,  rising  in  surprise  and  indignation; 
"or  who  will  be  warrant  for  this  new  physician?" 

"  For  authority,  an  it  like  your  reverence,  he  had  mine ;  and 
for  warrant,  I  trust  I  have  not  been  five-and-twenty  years  in 
this  house  without  having  right  to  warrant  the  giving  of  a 


KENILWOBTH.  165 

draught  to  beast  or  body — I  who  can  gie  a  drench,  and  a  ball, 
and  bleed,  or  blister,  if  need,  to  my  veiy  self." 

The  counsellors  of  the  house  of  Robsart  thought  it  meet  to 
carry  this  information  instantly  to  Tressilian,  who  as  speedily 
summoned  before  him  Wayland  Smith,  and  demanded  of  him 
(in  private,  however)  by  what  authority  he  had  ventui-ed  to 
administer  any  medicine  to  Sir  Hugh  Robsart. 

"  Why, "  replied  the  artist,  "  your  worship  cannot  but  re* 
member  that  I  told  you  I  had  made  more  progress  into  my 
master's — I  mean  the  learned  Doctor  Boboobie's — ^mystery 
than  he  was  willing  to  own ;  and,  indeed,  half  of  his  quarrel 
and  malice  against  me  was,  that,  besides  that  I  got  something 
too  deep  into  his  secrets,  several  discerning  persons,  and  par- 
ticularly a  buxom  young  widow  of  Abingdon,  preferred  my 
prescriptions  to  his." 

"None  of  thy  buffoonery,  sir,"  said  Tressilian,  sternly. 
"  If  thou  hast  trifled  with  us — much  more,  if  thou  hast  done 
aught  that  may  prejudice  Sir  Hiigh  RobBart's  health — thou 
ghalt  find  thy  grave  at  the  bottom  of  a  tin  mine." 

"I  know  too  little  of  the  great  cnranum  to  convert  the  ore 
to  gold, "  said  Wayland,  firmly.  "  But  truce  to  your  appre- 
hensions, Master  Tressilian.  I  imderstood  the  good  knight's 
ease,  from  what  Master  William  Badger  told  me ;  and  I  hope 
I  am  able  enough  to  administer  a  poor  dose  of  mandragora, 
which,  with  the  sleep  that  must  needs  follow,  is  all  that  Sir 
Hugh  Robsart  requires  to  settle  his  distraught  brains." 

"  I  trust  thou  dealest  fairly  with  me,  Wayland?"  said  Tres- 
silian. 

"  Most  fairly  and  honestly,  as  the  event  shall  show, "  replied 
the  artist.  "  What  would  it  avail  me  to  harm  the  poor  old 
man  for  whom  you  are  interested? — you,  to  whom  I  owe  it 
that  Gaffer  Pinniewinks  is  not  even  now  rending  my  flesh  and 
sinews  with  his  accursed  pincers,  and  probing  every  mole  in 
my  body  with  his  sharpened  awl — a  murrain  on  the  hands 
which  forged  it! — in  order  to  find  out  the  witch's  mark?  I 
trust  to  yoke  myself  as  a  humble  follower  to  your  worship's 
train,  and  I  only  wish  to  have  my  faith  judged  of  by  the  re- 
sult of  the  good  knight's  slumbers." 


166  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

Wayland  Smith  was  right  in  his  prognostication.  The 
sedative  draught  which  his  skill  had  prepared,  and  Will 
Badger's  confidence  had  administered,  was  attended  with  the 
most  beneficial  effects.  The  patient's  sleep  was  long  and 
healthful;  and  the  poor  old  knight  awoke,  humbled  indeed  in 
thought,  and  weak  in  frame,  yet  a  much  better  judge  of  what- 
ever was  subjected  to  his  intellect  than  he  had  been  for  some 
time  past.  He  resisted  for  a  while  the  proposal  made  by  his 
friends  that  Tressilian  should  undertake  a  journey  to  court, 
to  attempt  the  recovery  of  his  daughter,  and  the  redress  of  her 
wrongs,  in  so  far  as  they  might  yet  be  repaired.  "  Let  her 
go,"  he  said;  "she  is  but  a  hawk  that  goes  down  the  wind; 
I  would  not  bestow  even  a  whistle  to  reclaim  her."  But 
though  he  for  some  time  maintained  this  argument,  he  was  at 
length  convinced  it  was  his  duty  to  take  the  part  to  which 
natural  affection  inclined  him,  and  consent  that  such  efforts 
as  could  yet  be  made  should  be  used  by  Tressilian  in  behalf 
of  his  daughter.  He  subscribed,  therefore,  a  warrant  of  at- 
torney, such  as  the  curate's  skill  enabled  him  to  draw  up;  for 
in  those  simple  days  the  clergy  were  often  the  advisers  of 
their  flock  in  law  as  weU  as  in  Gospel. 

All  matters  were  prepared  for  Tressilian's  second  departure 
within  twenty-four  hours  after  he  had  returned  to  Lidcote 
Hall ;  but  one  material  circumstance  had  been  forgotten,  which 
was  first  called  to  the  remembrance  of  Tressilian  by  Master 
Mumblazen.  "You  are  going  to  court,  Master  Tressilian," 
said  he ;  "  you  will  please  remember  that  your  blazonry  must 
be  argent  and  or;  no  other  tinctures  will  pass  current. "  The 
remark  was  equally  just  and  embarrassing.  To  prosecute  a 
suit  at  court,  ready  money  was  as  indispensable  even  in  the 
golden  days  of  Elizabeth  as  at  any  succeeding  period ;  and  it 
was  a  commodity  little  at  the  command  of  the  inhabitants  of 
Lidcote  Hall.  Tressilian  was  himself  poor ;  the  revenues  of 
good  Sir  Hugh  Robsart  were  consumed,  and  even  anticipated, 
in  his  hospitable  mode  of  living ;  and  it  was  finally  necessary 
that  the  herald,  who  started  the  doubt,  should  himself  solve 
it.  Master  Michael  Mumblazen  did  so  by  producing  a  bag  of 
money,  containing  nearly  three  hundred  pounds  in  gold  and 


KENILWORTH.  167 

silver  of  various  coinage,  the  savings  of  twenty  years ;  which 
lie  now,  without  speaking  a  syllable  upon  the  subject,  dedi- 
cated to  the  service  of  the  patron  whose  shelter  and  protection 
had  given  him  the  means  of  making  this  little  hoard.  Tres- 
silian  accepted  it  without  affecting  a  moment's  hesitation,  and 
a  mutual  grasp  of  the  hand  was  all  that  passed  betwixt  them, 
to  express  the  pleasure  which  the  one  felt  in  dedicating  his  all 
to  such  a  purpose,  and  that  which  the  other  received  from 
finding  so  material  an  obstacle  to  the  success  of  his  journey 
80  suddenly  removed,  and  in  a  manner  so  imexpected. 

While  Tressilian  was  making  preparations  for  his  departure 
early  the  ensuing  morning,  "Wayland  Smith  desired  to  speak 
with  him ;  and,  expressing  his  hope  that  he  had  been  pleased 
with  the  operation  of  his  medicine  in  behalf  of  Sir  Hugh 
Eobsart,  added  his  desire  to  accompany  him  to  court.  This 
was  indeed  what  Tressilian  himself  had  several  times  thought 
of;  for  the  shrewdness,  alertness  of  understanding,  and  variety 
of  resource  which  this  fellow  had  exhibited  during  the  time 
they  had  travelled  together,  had  made  him  sensible  that  his 
assistance  might  be  of  importance.  But  then  Wayland  was 
in  danger  from  the  grasp  of  laAV ;  and  of  this  Tressilian  re- 
minded him,  mentioning  something,  at  the  same  time,  of  the 
pincers  of  Pinniewinks  and  the  warrant  of  Master  Justice 
Blindas.     Wayland  Smith  laughed  both  to  scorn. 

"See  you,  sir!"  said  he,  "I  have  changed  my  garb  from 
that  of  a  farrier  to  a  serving-man ;  but  were  it  still  as  it  was, 
look  at  my  mustachios ;  they  now  hang  down,  I  will  but  turn 
them  up,  and  dye  them  with  a  tincture  that  I  know  of,  and 
the  devil  would  scarce  know  me  again." 

He  accompanied  these  words  with  the  appropriate  action; 
and  in  less  than  a  minute,  by  setting  up  his  mustachios  and 
his  hair,  he  seemed  a  different  person  from  him  that  had  but 
now  entered  the  room.  Still,  however,  Tressilian  hesitated 
to  accept  his  services,  and  the  artist  became  proportionably 
urgent 

"  I  owe  you  life  and  limb, "  he  said,  "  and  I  would  fain  pay 
a  part  of  the  debt,  especially  as  I  know  from  Will  Badger  on 
what  dangerous  service  your  worship  is  bound.     I  do  not,  ii-  - 


168  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

deed,  pretend  to  be  what  is  called  a  luau  of  mettle — one  of 
those  rulEing  teai-cats,  who  maintain  their  master's  quarrel 
with  sword  and  buckler.  Nay,  I  am  even  one  of  those  who 
hold  the  end  of  a  feast  better  than  the  beginning  of  a  fiay. 
But  I  know  that  I  can  serve  your  worship  better  in  such  quest 
as  yovirs  than  any  of  these  sword-and-dagger  men,  and  that 
my  head  will  be  worth  an  hundred  of  their  hands." 

Tressilian  still  hesitated.  He  knew  not  much  of  this 
strange  fellow,  and  was  doubtful  how  far  he  could  repose  in 
him  the  confidence  necessary  to  render  him  an  useful  attendant 
upon  the  present  emergency.  Ere  lie  had  come  to  a  deter- 
mination, the  trampling  of  a  horse  was  heard  in  the  courtyard, 
and  Master  Mumblazen  and  Will  Badger  both  entered  hastily 
into  TressiKan's  chamber,  speaking  almost  at  the  same  mo- 
ment. 

"  Here  is  a  serving-man  on  the  bonniest  grey  tit  I  ever  see'd 
in  my  life, "  said  Will  Badger,  who  got  the  start ; — "  having 
on  his  arm  a  silver  cognizance,  being  a  fire-drake  holdiag  in 
his  mouth  a  brick-bat,  under  a  coronet  of  an  earl's  degree," 
said  Master  Mumblazen,  "  and  bearing  a  letter  sealed  of  the 
same." 

Tressilian  took  the  letter,  which  was  addressed  "To  the 
worshipful  Master  Edmund  Tressilian,  our  loving  kinsman — 
These — ride,  ride,  ride — for  thy  life,  for  thy  life,  for  thy  life.'- 
He  then  opened  it,  and  found  the  following  contents : 

"Master  Tkessilian,   cub  good  Friexd  axd  Cousijt: 

"We  are  at  present  so  ill  at  ease,  and  otherwise  so  un- 
happily circumstanced,  that  we  are  desirous  to  have  around  us 
those  of  our  friends  on  whose  lovmg-kindness  we  can  most 
especially  repose  confidence ;  amongst  whom  we  hold  our  good 
Master  Tressilian  one  of  the  foremost  and  nearest,  both  in 
good  will  and  good  ability.  We  therefore  pray  you,  with  your 
most  convenient  speed,  to  repair  to  our  ]30or  lodging  at  Say's 
Court,  near  Deptford,  where  we  will  treat  farther  with  jou. 
of  matters  which  we  deem  it  not  fit  to  commit  unto  writing. 
And  so  we  bid  you  heartily  farewell,  being  your  loving  kins- 
man to  command,  Eatcliffe,  Earl  of  Sussex." 


KENILWORTH.  169 

"  Send  up  tlie  messenger  instantly,  Will  Badger, "  said  Tres- 
silian ;  and  as  the  man  entered  the  room  he  exclaimed :  "  Ah, 
Stevens,  is  it  3'ou?  how  does  my  good  lord?" 

"  111,  Master  Tressilian, "  was  the  messenger's  reply,  "  and 
having  therefore  the  more  need  of  good  friends  around  him." 

"  But  what  is  my  lord's  malady?"  said  Tressilian,  anxiously. 
*'I  heard  nothing  of  his  being  ill." 

"  I  know  not,  sir, "  replied  the  man ;  "  he  is  very  ill  at  ease. 
The  leeches  are  at  a  stand,  and  many  of  his  household  suspect 
fold  practice — witchcraft,  or  worse." 

"What  are  the  symptoms?"  said  Wayland  Smith,  stepping 
forward  hastily. 

"Anan?"  said  the  messenger,  not  comprehending  his 
meaning. 

"What  does  he  ail?"  said  Wayland;  "where  lies  his  dis- 
ease?" 

The  man  looked  at  Tressilian  as  if  to  know  whether  he 
should  answer  these  inquiries  from  a  stranger,  and  receiving 
a  sign  in  the  affirmative,  he  hastily  enumerated  gradual  loss 
of  strength,  nocturnal  perspiration,  and  loss  of  api)etite,  faint- 
ness,  etc. 

"Joined,"  said  Wayland,  "to  a  gnawing  pain  in  the 
stomach,  and  a  low  fever?" 

"  Even  so, "  said  the  messenger,  somewhat  surprised. 

"  I  know  how  the  disease  is  caused, "  said  the  artist,  "  and 
I  know  the  cause.  Your  master  has  eaten  of  the  manna  of  St. 
Nicholas.  I  know  the  cure  too :  my  master  shall  not  say  I 
studied  in  his  laboratory  for  nothing." 

"How  mean  you?"  said  Tressilian,  frowning;  "we  speak 
of  one  of  the  first  nobles  of  England.  Bethink  you,  this  is  no 
subject  for  buffoonery." 

"God  forbid!"  said  Wayland  Smith.  "I  say  that  I  know 
his  disease,  and  can  cure  him.  Eemember  what  I  did  for  Sir 
Hugh  Robsart." 

"We  will  set  forth  instantly,"  said  Tressilian.  "God  calls 
us." 

Accordingly,  hastily  mentioning  this  new  motive  for  his 
instant  departure,  though  without  alluding  to  either  the  sus- 


170  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

picions  of  Stevens  or  the  assurances  of  Wayland  Smith,  he 
took  the  kindest  leave  of  Sir  Hugh  and  the  family  at  Lidcote 
Hall,  who  accompanied  him  with  prayers  and  hlessmgs,  and, 
attended  by  "Wayland  and  the  Earl  of  Sussex's  domestic,  trav- 
elled witli  the  utmost  speed  towards  London. 


CHAPTEK   XIII. 


Ay,  I  know  you  have  arsenic,  • ; 

Vitriol,  sal-tartre,  argaile,  alkaly, 
Cinoper :  I  know  all.    This  fellow,  Captain, 
Will  come  in  time  to  be  a  great  distiller, 
And  give  a  say,  I  will  not  say  directly. 
But  very  near,  at  the  philosopher's  stone. 

The  Alchemist. 

Tkessilian  and  his  attendants  pressed  their  route  with  all 
despatch.  He  had  asked  the  smith,  indeed,  when  their  de- 
parture was  resolved  on,  whether  he  would  not  rather  choose 
to  avoid  Berkshire,  in  which  he  had  jDlayed  a  part  so  con- 
spicuous? But  Wayland  returned  a  confident  answer.  He 
had  employed  the  short  interval  they  passed  at  Lidcote  Hall 
in  transforming  himself  in  a  wonderful  manner.  His  wild  and 
overgrown  thicket  of  beard  was  now  restrained  to  two  small 
mustachios  on  the  upper  lip,  turned  up  in  a  military  fashion. 
A  tailor  from  the  village  of  Lidcote  (well  paid)  had  exerted 
his  skill,  under  his  customer's  directions,  so  as  completely  to 
alter  Wayland's  outward  man,  and  take  off  from  his  appear- 
ance almost  twenty  years  of  age.  Formerly,  besmeared  with 
soot  and  charcoal,  overgrown  with  hair,  and  bent  double  with 
the  nature  of  his  labour,  disfigured,  too,  by  his  odd  and  fan- 
tastic dress,  he  seemed  a  man  of  fifty  years  old.  But  now,  in 
a  handsome  suit  of  Tressilian's  livery,  with  a  sword  by  his 
side,  and  a  buckler  on  his  shoulder,  he  looked  like  a  gay- 
ruffling  serving-man,  whose  age  might  be  betwixt  thirty  and 
thirty-five,  the  very  prime  of  human  life.  His  loutish,  sav- 
age-looking demeanour  seemed  equally  changed  into  a  forward, 
sharp,  and  impudent  alertness  of  look  and  action. 

When  challenged  by  Tressilian,  who  desired  to  know  the 


KENILWORTH.  17j 

cause  of  a  metamorphosis  so  singular  and  so  absolute,  Way- 
land  only  answered  by  singing  a  stave  from  a  comedy,  which 
was  then  new,  and  was  supposed,  among  the  more  favourable 
judges,  to  augur  some  genius  on  the  part  of  the  author.  We 
are  happy  to  preserve  the  couplet,  which  ran  exactly  thus : 

*'  Ban — ban,  Ca — Caliban ! 
Get  a  new  master ;  be  a  new  man." 

Although  Tressilian  did  not  recollect  the  verses,  yet  they  re- 
minded him  that  Wayland  had  once  been  a  stage-player,  a 
circumstance  which,  of  itself,  accounted  indifferently  well  for 
the  readiness  with  which  he  could  assume  so  total  a  change  of 
personal  appearance.  The  artist  himself  was  so  confident  of 
his  disguise  being  completely  changed,  or  of  his  having  com- 
pletely changed  his  disguise,  which  may  be  the  more  correct 
mode  of  spfeaking,  that  he  regretted  they  were  not  to  pass  near 
his  old  place  of  retreat. 

"  I  could  venture, "  he  said,  "  in  my  present  dress,  and  with 
your  worship's  backing,  to  face  Master  Justice  Blindas,  even 
on  a  day  of  quarter  sessions ;  and  I  would  like  to  know  what 
is  become  of  Hobgoblin,  who  is  like  to  play  the  devil  in  the 
world,  if  he  can  once  slip  the  string  and  leave  his  granny  and 
his  dominie.  Ay,  and  the  scathed  vault!"  he  said — "I  would 
willingly  have  seen  what  havoc  the  explosion  of  so  much  gim- 
powder  has  made  among  Doctor  Demetrius  Doboobie's  retorts 
and  phials.  I  warrant  me,  my  fame  haunts  the  Vale  of  the 
Whitehorse  long  after  my  body  is  rotten ;  and  that  many  a 
lout  ties  up  his  horse,  lays  down  his  silver  groat,  and  pipes 
like  a  sailor  whistling  in  a  calm,  for  Wayland  Smith  to  come 
and  shoe  his  tit  for  him.  But  the  horse  will  catch  the 
founders  ere  the  smith  answers  the  call. " 

In  this  particular,  indeed,  Wayland  proved  a  true  prophet; 
and  so  easily  do  fables  rise,  that  an  obscure  tradition  of  his  ex- 
traordinary practice  in  farriery  prevails  in  the  Vale  of  White- 
horse  even  unto  this  day ;  and  neither  the  tradition  of  Alfred's 
victory  nor  of  the  celebrated  Pusey  horn  are  better  preserved 
in  Berkshire  than  the  wild  legend  of  Wayland  Smith.* 

*  See  Note  4. 


172  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

The  haste  of  the  travellers  admitted  their  making  no  stay 
upon  their  journey,  save  what  the  refresliment  of  the  horses 
required;  and  as  many  of  the  places  through  which  they 
passed  were  under  the  influence  of  the  Earl  of  Leicester,  or 
persons  immediately  dependent  on  him,  they  thought  it  pru- 
dent to  disguise  their  names  and  the  purpose  of  their  journey. 
On  such  occasions  the  agency  of  Wayland  Smith  (by  which 
name  we  shall  continue  to  distinguish  the  artist,  though  his 
real  name  was  Lancelot  Wayland)  was  extremely  sersdceable. 
He  seemed,  indeed,  to  have  a  j)leasure  in  displaying  the  alert- 
ness with  which  he  could  baflle  investigation,  and  amuse  him- 
self by  putting  the  curiosity  of  tapsters  and  innkeepers  on  a 
false  scent.  During  the  course  of  their  brief  journey,  three 
different  and  iaconsistent  repoi-ts  were  cii'culated  by  him  on 
their  account;  namely,  first,  that  Tressilian  was  the  Lord 
Deputy  of  Ireland,  come  over  in  disguise  to  take  the  Queen^s 
pleasure  concerning  the  great  rebel  Kory  Oge  MacCarthy  Mac- 
Mahon;  secondly,  that  the  said  Tressilian  was  an  agent  of 
Monsieur,  coming  to  urge  his  suit  to  the  hand  of  Elizabeth; 
thirdly,  that  he  was  the  Duke  of  Medina,  come  over,  incog- 
nito, to  adjust  the  quarrel  betwixt  Philip  and  that  princess. 

Tressilian  was  angry,  and  expostulated  with  the  artist  on 
the  various  inconveniences,  and,  iu  particular,  the  uimecessary 
degree  of  attention,  to  which  they  were  subjected  by  the  fig- 
ments he  thus  circulated ;  but  he  was  pacified  (for  who  could  be 
proof  against  such  an  argument?)  by  Wayland's  assuring  him 
that  a  general  importance  was  attached  to  his  own  (Tressil- 
ian's)  striking  presence,  which  rendered  it  necessary  to  give  an 
extraordinary  reason  for  the  rapidity  and  secrecy  of  his  journey. 

At  length  they  approached  the  metropolis,  where,  owing  to 
the  more  general  recourse  of  strangers,  their  appearance  exci- 
ted neither  observation  nor  inquiry,  and  finally  they  entered 
London  itself. 

It  was  Tressilian's  purpose  to  go  down  directly  to  Deptford, 
where  Lord  Sussex  resided,  in  order  to  be  near  the  court,  then 
held  at  Greenwich,  the  favourite  residence  of  Elizabeth,  and 
honoured  as  her  birthplace.  Still,  a  brief  halt  in  London  was 
necessary ;  and  it  was  somewhat  prolonged  by  the  earnest  en- 


KENILWORTH.  173 

treaties  of  Wayland  Smitli,  who  desired  permission  to  take  a 
walk  through  the  city. 

"  Take  thy  sword  and  buckler,  and  follow  me,  then, "  said 
TressUian ;  "  I  am  about  to  walk  myself,  and  we  will  go  in 
company." 

This  he  said,  because  he  was  not  altogether  so  secure  of  the 
fidelity  of  his  new  retainer  as  to  lose  sight  of  him  at  this  in- 
teresting moment,  when  rival  factions  at  the  court  of  Elizabeth 
were  running  so  high.  Wayland  Smith  williugly  acquiesced  in 
the  precaution,  of  which  he  probably  conjectured  the  motive, 
but  only  stipulated  that  his  master  should  enter  the  shops  of 
such  chemists  or  apothecaries  as  he  should  point  out  in  walk- 
ing through  Fleet  Street,  and  permit  him  to  make  some 
necessary  purchases.  Tressiliau  agreed,  and,  obeying  the 
signal  of  his  attendant,  walked  successively  into  more  than 
four  or  five  shops,  where  he  observed  that  Wayland  purchased 
in  each  only  one  single  drug,  in  various  quantities.  The 
medicines  which  he  first  asked  for  were  readily  furnished,  each 
in  succession,  but  those  which  he  afterwards  required  were  less 
easily  supplied;  and  Tressilian  observed  that  Wayland  more 
than  once,  to  the  surprise  of  the  shop-keeper,  returned  the 
gum  or  herb  that  was  offered  to  him,  and  compelled  him  to 
exchange  it  for  the  right  sort,  or  else  went  on  to  seek  it  else- 
where. But  one  ingredient,  in  particular,  seemed  almost  im- 
possible to  be  found.  Some  chemists  plainly  admitted  they 
had  never  seen  it,  others  denied  that  such  a  drug  existed,  ex- 
cepting in  the  imagination  of  crazy  alchemists,  and  most  of 
them  attempted  to  satisfy  their  customer  by  producing  some 
substitute,  which,  when  rejected  by  Wayland  as  not  being 
what  he  had  asked  for,  they  maintained  possessed,  in  a  su- 
perior degree,  the  self-same  qualities.  In  general,  they  all 
displayed  some  curiosity  concerning  the  purpose  for  which  he 
wanted  it.  One  old,  meagre  chemist,  to  whom  the  artist  put 
the  usual  question,  in  terms  which  Tressilian  neither  under- 
stood nor  could  recollect,  answered  frankly,  there  was  none  of 
that  drug  in  London,  unless  Yoglan  the  Jew  chanced  to  have 
some  of  it  upon  hand. 

"  I  thought  as  much, "  said  Wayland.     And  as  soon  as  they 


174  WAVmiLEY  NOVELS. 

left  the  shop,  lie  said  to  Tressilian :  "  I  crave  your  pardon,  sir, 
but  no  artist  can  work  without  his  tools.  I  must  needs  go  to 
this  Yoglan's;  and  I  promise  you  that,  if  this  detains  you 
longer  than  your  leisure  seems  to  permit,  you  shall,  neverthe- 
less, be  well  repaid  by  the  use  I  will  make  of  this' rare  drug. 
Permit  me, "  he  added,  "  to  walk  before  you,  for  we  are  now 
to  quit  the  broad  street,  and  we  will  make  double  speed  if  I 
lead  the  way." 

Tressilian  acquiesced,  and,  following  the  smith  down  a  lane 
■which  turned  to  the  left  hand  towards  the  river,  he  found  that 
his  guide  walked  on  with  great  speed,  and  apparently  perfect 
knowledge  of  the  town,  through  a  labyrinth  of  bye-streets, 
courts,  and  blind  alleys,  until  at  length  Wayland  paused  in 
the  midst  of  a  very  narrow  lane,  the  termination  of  which 
showed  a  peep  of  the  Thames  looking  misty  and  muddy,  which 
background  was  crossed  saltier-ways,  as  Mr.  Mumblazen 
might  have  said,  by  the  masts  of  two  lighters  that  lay  waiting 
for  the  tide.  The  shop  under  which  he  halted  had  not,  as  in 
modern  days,  a  glazed  window ;  but  a  paltry  canvas  screen 
surrounded  such  a  stall  as  a  cobbler  now  occupies,  having  the 
front  open,  much  in  the  manner  of  a  fishmonger's  booth  of  the 
present  day.  A  little  old  smock-faced  man,  the  very  reverse 
of  a  Jew  in  complexion,  for  he  was  very  soft-haired  as  well  as 
beardless,  appeared,  and  with  many  courtesies  asked  "Wayland 
what  he  pleased  to  want.  He  had  no  sooner  named  the  drug 
than  the  Jew  started  and  looked  surprised.  "  And  vat  might 
your  vorship  vant  vith  that  drug,  which  is  not  named,  meia 
Ood,  in  forty  years  as  I  have  been  chemist  here?" 

"  These  questions  it  is  no  part  of  my  commission  to  answer, " 
said  Wayland;  "  I  only  wish  to  know  if  you  have  what  I  want, 
and  having  it,  are  willing  to  sell  it?" 

"  Ay,  mein  God,  for  having  it,  that  I  have,  and  for  selling 
it,  I  am  a  chemist,  and  sell  every  drug. "  So  saying,  he  ex- 
hibited a  powder,  and  then  continued:  "  But  it  will  cost  much 
monies.  Vat  I  ave  cost  its  weight  in  gold — ay,  gold  well- 
refined — I  vill  say  six  times.  It  comes  from  Mount  Sinai, 
where  we  had  our  blessed  Law  given  forth,  and  the  plant 
blossoms  but  once  in  one  hundred  year." 


KENILWORTH.  175 

"  I  do  not  know  how  often  it  is  gathered  on  Mount  Sinai, " 
said  Wayland,  after  looking  at  tlie  drug  offered  hini  with  great 
disdain,  "  but  I  will  wager  my  sword  and  buckler  against  your 
gaberdine  that  this  trash  you  offer  me,  instead  of  what  I  asked 
for,  may  be  had  for  gathering  any  day  of  the  week  in  the 
castle-ditch  of  Aleppo." 

"  You  are  a  rude  man, "  said  the  Jew ;  "  and,  besides,  I  ave 
no  better  than  that ;  or,  if  I  ave,  I  will  not  sell  it  without  order 
of  a  physician,  or  without  you  tell  me  vat  you  make  of  it. " 

The  artist  made  brief  answer  in  a  language  of  which  Tres- 
silian  could  not  understand  a  word,  and  which  seemed  to  strike 
the  Jew  with  the  utmost  astonishment.  He  stared  upon  Way- 
land  like  one  who  has  suddenly  recognised  some  mighty  hero 
or  dreaded  potentate  in  the  person  of  an  unknown  and  un- 
marked stranger.  "Holy  Elias!"  he  exclaimed,  when  he  had 
recovered  the  first  stunning  effects  of  his  surprise ;  and  then 
passing  from  his  former  suspicious  and  surly  manner  to  the 
very  extremity  of  obsequiousness,  he  cringed  low  to  the  artist, 
and  besought  him  to  enter  his  poor  house,  to  bless  his  miser- 
able threshold  by  crossmg  it. 

"Vill  you  not  taste  a  cup  vith  the  poor  Jew,  Zacharias 
Yoglan?  Vill  you  Tokay  ave? — vill  you  Lachrymse  taste? — 
vill  you " 

"  You  offend  in  your  proffers, "  said  Wayland ;  "  minister  to 
me  in  what  I  require  of  you,  and  forbear  further  discourse." 

The  rebuked  Israelite  took  his  bunch  of  keys,  and  opening 
with  circumspection  a  cabinet  which  seemed  more  strongly 
secured  than  the  other  cases  of  drugs  and  medicines  amongst 
which  it  stood,  he  drew  out  a  little  secret  drawer,  having  a 
glass  lid,  and  containing  a  small  portion  of  a  black  powder. 
This  he  offered  to  Wayland,  his  manner  conveying  the  deepest 
devotion  towards  him,  though  an  avaricious  and  jealous  ex- 
pression, which  seemed  to  grudge  every  grain  of  what  his  cus- 
tomer was  about  to  possess  himself,  disputed  ground  in  hi3 
countenance  with  the  obsequious  deference  which  he  desired 
it  should  exhibit. 

"Have  you  scales?"  said  Wayland. 

The  Jew  pointed  to  those  which  lay  ready  for  common  use 


176  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

in  the  shop,  but  he  did  so  with  a  puzzled  expression  of  doubt 
and  fear  which  did  not  escape  the  artist. 

"They  must  be  other  than  these,"  said  Wayland,  sternly; 
"  know  you  not  that  holy  things  lose  their  virtue  if  weighed  in 
an  unjust  balance?" 

The  Jew  hung  his  head,  took  from  a  steel-plated  casket  a 
pair  of  scales  beautifully  mounted,  and  said,  as  he  adjusted 
them  for  the  artist's  use:  "With  tliese  I  do  mine  own  experi- 
ment; one  hair  of  the  high-priest's  beard  would  turn  them." 

"It  suffices, "  said  the  artist;  and  weighed  out  two  di-achms 
for  himself  of  the  black  jjowder,  which  he  very  carefully  folded 
up  and  put  into  his  pouch  with  the  other  drugs.  He  then 
demanded  the  price  of  the  Jew,  who  answered,  shaking  his 
head  and  bowing: 

"  No  price — no,  nothing  at  all  from  such  as  you.  But  you 
will  see  the  poor  Jew  again? — you  will  look  into  his  laboratory, 
where,  God  help  him,  he  hath  dried  himseK  to  the  substance  of 
the  withered  gou.rd  of  Jonah,  the  holy  prophet?  You  vill  ave 
pity  on  him,  and  show  him  one  little  step  on  the  great  road?" 

"Hush!"  said  Wayland,  laying  his  finger  mysteriously  on 
his  mouth,  "  it  may  be  we  shall  meet  again :  thou  hast  already 
the  schahmajm,  as  thine  own  rabbis  call  it — the  general  crea- 
tion; watch,  therefore,  and  pray,  for  thou  must  attain  the 
knowledge  of  Alchahest  Elixir  Samech  ere  I  may  commime 
farther  with  thee."  Then  returning  with  a  slight  nod  the 
reverential  congees  of  the  Jew,  he  walked  gravely  up  the  lane, 
followed  by  his  master,  whose  first  observation  on  the  scene 
he  had  just  witnessed  was,  that  Wayland  ought  to  have  paid 
the  man  for  his  drug,  whatever  it  was. 

"  I  pay  him!"  said  the  artist.  "  May  the  foul  fiend  pay  me 
if  I  do !  Had  it  not  been  that  I  thought  it  might  displease 
your  worship,  I  would  have  had  an  ounce  or  two  of  gold  out 
of  him,  in  exchange  of  the  same  just  weight  of  brick-dust." 

"  I  advise  you  to  practise  no  such  knavery  while  waiting 
upon  me, "  said  Tressilian. 

"  Did  I  not  say, "  answered  the  artist,  "  that  for  that  reason 
alone  I  forbore  him  for  the  present?  Knavery,  call  you  it? 
Why,  yonder  wretched  skeleton  hath  wealth  sufficient  to  pave 


KENILWORTH.  177 

the  whole  lane  he  lives  in  with  dollars,  and  scarce  miss  them 
out  of  his  own  iron  chest ;  yet  he  goes  mad  after  the  philoso- 
pher" s  stone;  and,  besides,  he  would  have  cheated  a  poor  serv- 
ing-man, as  he  thought  me  at  first,  with  trash  that  was  not 
worth  a  penny.  'Match  for  match,'  quoth  the  devil  to  the 
collier :  if  his  false  medicine  was  worth  my  good  crowns,  my 
true  brick-dust  is  as  well  worth  his  good  gold. " 

"  It  may  be  so  for  aught  I  know, "  said  Tressilian,  "  in  deal- 
ing amongst  Jews  and  apothecaries ;  but  understand  that  to 
have  such  tricks  of  legerdemain  practised  by  one  attending  on 
me  diminishes  my  honour,  and  that  I  will  not  permit  them. 
I  trust  thou  hast  made  up  thy  purchases?" 

"  I  have,  sir,"  replied  Wayland;  "  and  with  these  drugs  will 
I,  this  very  day,  com]30und  the  true  orvietan,^  that  noble 
medicine  which  is  so  seldom  found  genuine  and  elfective 
within  these  realms  of  Europe,  for  want  of  that  most  rare  and 
precious  drug  which  I  got  but  now  from  Yoglan." 

"But  why  not  have  made  all  your  purchases  at  one  shop?" 
said  his  master ;  "  we  have  lost  nearly  an  hour  in  running  from 
one  pounder  of  simples  to  another." 

"Content  you,  sir,"  said  Wayland.  "Xo  man  shall  learn 
my  secret ;  and  it  would  not  be  mine  long  were  I  to  buy  all 
my  materials  from  one  chemist." 

They  now  returned  to  their  inn,  the  famous  Bell- Savage, 
and  while  the  Lord  Sussex's  servant  prepared  the  horses  for 
their  journey,  Wayland,  obtaining  from  the  cook  the  service  of 
a  mortar,  shut  himself  up  in  a  private  chamber,  where  he 
mixed,  pounded,  and  amalgamated  the  drugs  which  he  had 
bought,  each  in  its  due  proportion,  with  a  readiness  and 
address*  that  plainly  showed  him  well  practised  in  all  the 
manual  operations  of  pharmacy. 

By  the  time  Wayland' s  electuary  was  prepared  the  horses 
were  ready,  and  a  short  hour's  riding  brought  them  to  the  pres- 
ent habitation  of  Lord  Sussex,  an  ancient  house,  called  Say's 
Court,"  near  Deptford,  which  had  long  pertained  to  a  family  of 

1  See  Note  5. 

"  The  court  has  now  entirely  disappeared,  and  its  site  is  occupied  by  a 
workhouse  {Lahw). 

12 


178  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

that  name,  but  had.  for  upwards  of  a  century  been  possessed 
by  the  ancient  and.  honourable  family  of  Evelyn.  The  present 
representative  of  that  ancient  house  took  a  deep  interest  in  the 
Earl  of  Sussex,  and  had  willingly  accommodated  both  him  and 
his  numerous  retinue  in  his  hospitable  mansion.  Say's  Court 
was  afterwards  the  residence  of  the  celebrated  Mr.  Evelyn ' 
whose  Silva  is  still  the  manual  of  British  planters ;  and  whose 
life,  manners,  and  principles,  as  illustrated  in  his  MemoirSf 
ought  equally  to  be  the  manual  of  English  gentlemen. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 


This  is  rare  news  thou  tell'st  me,  my  good  fellow; 
There  are  two  bulls  fierce  battling  on  the  green 
For  one  fair  heifer ;  if  the  one  goes  down, 
The  dale  will  be  more  peaceful,  and  the  herd. 
Which  have  small  interest  in  their  brulziement, 
May  pasture  there  in  peace. 

Old  Play. 

Say's  Court  was  watched  like  a  beleaguered  fort;  and  so 
high  rose  the  suspicions  of  the  time,  that  Tressilian  and  his  at- 
tendants were  stopped  and  questioned  repeatedly  by  sentinels, 
both  on  foot  and  horseback,  as  they  approached  the  abode  of 
the  sick  earl.  In  truth,  the  high  rank  which  Sussex  held  in 
Queen  Elizabeth's  favour,  and  his  known  and  avowed  rivalry 
of  the  Earl  of  Leicester,  caused  the  utmost  importance  to  be 
attached  to  his  weKare ;  for,  at  the  period  we  treat  of,  all  men 
doubted  whether  he  or  the  Earl  of  Leicester  might  ultimately 
have  the  higher  rank  in  her  regard. 

Elizabeth,  like  many  of  her  sex,  was  fond  of  governing  by 
factions,  so  as  to  balance  two  opposing  interests,  and  reserve 
in  her  own  hand  the  power  of  making  either  predominate,  as 
the  interest  of  the  state,  or  perhaps  as  her  own  female  caprice, 
for  to  that  foible  even  she  was  not  superior,  might  finally  de- 
termine.    To  finesse,  to  hold  the  cards,  to  oppose  one  interest 

'  Evelyn's  name  has  also  become  familiar  through  his  Memoirs,  compris- 
ing a  Diary  from  1641  to  1705,  and  a  Selection  of  Familiar  Letters,  pub- 
lished from  his  MSS.,  discovered  at  Say's  Court  in  1818  {Laiiig), 


KENILWORTH.  179 

to  another,  to  bridle  him  who  thought  himself  highest  in  her 
esteem  by  the  fears  he  must  entertain  of  another  equally 
trusted,  if  not  equally  beloved,  were  arts  which  she  used 
throughout  her  reign,  and  which  enabled  her,  though  fre- 
quently giving  way  to  the  weakness  of  favouritism,  to  prevent 
most  of  its  evil  effects  on  her  kingdom  and  government. 

The  two  nobles  who  at  present  stood  as  rivals  in  her  favour 
possessed  very  different  pretensions  to  share  it ;  yet  it  might 
be  in  general  said  that  the  Earl  of  Sussex  had  been  most  ser- 
viceable to  the  queen,  while  Leicester  was  most  dear  to  the 
woman.  Sussex  was,  according  to  the  phrase  of  the  times,  a 
martialist :  had  done  good  service  in  Ireland  and  in  Scotland, 
and  especially  in  the  great  northern  rebellion,  in  1569,  which 
was  quelled,  in  a  great  measure,  by  his  military  talents.  He 
"was,  therefore,  naturally  surrounded  and  looked  up  to  by  those 
who  wished  to  make  arms  their  road  to  distinction.  The  Earl 
of  Sussex,  moreover,  was  of  more  ancient  and  honourable 
descent  than  his  rival,  imiting  in  his  person  the  representation 
of  the  Eitz-Walters,  as  well  as  of  the  Eatcliffes,  while  the 
scutcheon  of  Leicester  was  stained  by  the  degradation  of  his 
grandfather,  the  oppressive  minister  of  Henry  VII.,  and  scarce 
improved  by  that  of  his  father,  the  unhappy  Dudley  Duke  of 
Northumberland,  executed  on  Tower  HiU,  August  22,  1553. 
But  in  person,  features,  and  address,  weapons  so  formidable 
in  the  court  of  a  female  sovereign,  Leicester  had  advantages 
more  than  sufficient  to  counterbalance  the  military  services, 
high  blood,  and  frank  bearing  of  the  Earl  of  Sussex ;  and  he 
bore  in  the  eye  of  the  court  and  kingdom  the  higher  share  in 
Elizabeth's  favour,  though  (for  such  was  her  uniform  policy) 
by  no  means  so  decidedly  expressed  as  to  warrant  him  against 
the  final  preponderance  of  his  rival's  pretensions.  The  illness 
of  Sussex  therefore  happened  so  opportunely  for  Leicester  as 
to  give  rise  to  strange  surmises  among  the  public ;  while  the 
followers  of  the  one  earl  were  filled  with  the  deepest  appre- 
hensions, and  those  of  the  other  with  the  highest  hopes  of  its 
probable  issue.  Meanwhile — for  in  that  old  time  men  never 
forgot  the  probability  that  the  matter  might  be  determined  by 
length  of  sword— the  retainers  of  each  noble  flocked  around 


180  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

their  patron,  appeared  well  armed  in  the  vicinity  of  the  court 
itself,  and  disturbed  the  ear  of  the  sovereign  by  their  frequent 
and  alarming  debates,  held  even  within  the  precincts  of  her 
palace.  This  preliminary  statement  is  necessary  to  render 
what  follows  intelligible  to  the  reader.' 

On  Tressilian's  arrival  at  Say's  Court,  he  found  the  place 
filled  with  the  retainers  of  the  Earl  of  Sussex,  and  of  the  gen- 
tlemen who  came  to  attend  their  patron  in  his  illness.  Arms 
were  in  every  hand,  and  a  deep  gloom  on  every  comitenance, 
as  if  they  had  apprehended  an  immediate  and  violent  assault 
from  the  opposite  faction.  In  the  hall,  however,  to  which 
Tressilian  was  ushered  by  one  of  the  earl's  attendants,  while 
another  went  to  inform  Sussex  of  his  arrival,  he  found  only 
two  gentlemen  in  waiting.  There  was  a  remarkable  contrast 
in  their  dress,  appearance,  and  manners.  The  attire  of  the 
elder  gentleman,  a  person,  as  it  seemed,  of  quality  and  in  the 
prime  of  life,  was  very  plain  and  soldierlike,  his  stature  low, 
his  limbs  stout,  his  bearing  ungraceful,  and  his  features  of 
that  kind  which  express  sound  common  sense,  without  a  grain 
of  vivacity  or  imagination.  The  younger,  who  seemed  about 
twenty  or  upwards,  was  clad  in  the  gayest  habit  used  by  per- 
sons of  quality  at  the  period,  wearing  a  crimson  velvet  cloak 
richly  ornamented  with  lace  and  embroidery,  with  a  bonnet  of 
the  same,  encircled  with  a  gold  chain  turned  three  times  round 
it  and  secured  by  a  medal.  His  hair  was  adjusted  very  nearly 
like  that  of  some  fine  gentlemen  of  our  own  time — that  is,  it 
was  combed  upwards,  and  made  to  stand  as  it  were  on  end; 
and  in  his  ears  he  wore  a  pair  of  silver  ear-rings,  having  each 
a  pearl  of  considerable  size.  The  countenance  of  this  youth, 
besides  beuig  regularly  handsome  and  accomi^anied  by  a  fine 
person,  was  animated  and  striking  in  a  degree  that  seemed  to 
speak  at  once  the  firmness  of  a  decided  and  the  fire  of  an  en- 
terprising character,  the  power  of  reflection  and  the  prompti- 
tude of  determination. 

Both  these  gentlemen  reclined  nearly  in  the  same  posture  on 
benches  near  each  other ;  but  each  seeming  engaged  in  his  own 
meditations,  looked  straight  upon  the  wall  which  was  opposite 
>  See  Leicester  and  Sussex.    Note  6. 


KENILWORTH.  181 

to  them,  without  speaking  to  his  companion.  The  looks  of 
the  elder  were  of  that  sort  which  convinced  the  beltolder  that, 
in  looking  on  the  wall,  he  saw  no  more  than  the  side  of  an  old 
hall  hung  around  with  cloaks,  antlers,  bucklers,  old  pieces  of 
armour,  partizans,  and  the  similai'  articles  which  were  usually 
the  furniture  of  such  a  place.  The  look  of  the  younger  gallant 
had  in  it  something  imaginative ;  he  was  sunk  in  reverie,  and 
it  seemed  as  if  the  empty  space  of  air  betwixt  him  and  the 
wall  were  the  stage  of  a  theatre  on  which  his  fancy  was  mus- 
tering his  own  dramatis  i^ersonce^  and  treating  him  with  sights 
far  different  from  those  which  his  awakened  and  earthly  vision 
could  have  offered. 

At  the  entrance  of  Tressilian  both  started  fi-om  their  mus- 
ing and  bade  him  welcome ;  the  younger,  in  particular,  with 
great  appearance  of  animation  and  cordiality. 

"Thou  art  welcome,  Tressilian,"  said  the  youth;  "thy 
philosophy  stole  thee  from  us  when  this  household  had  objects 
of  ambition  to  offer:  it  is  an  honest  philosophy,  since  it  returns 
thee  to  us  when  there  are  only  dangers  to  be  shared." 

"  Is  my  lord,  then,  so  greatly  indisposed?"  said  Tressilian. 

"  We  fear  the  very  worst, "  answered  the  elder  gentleman, 
**and  by  the  worst  practice." 

"  Fy, "  replied  Tressilian,  "  my  Lord  of  Leicester  is  honour- 
able." 

"What  doth  he  with  such  attendants,  then,  as  he  hath 
about  him?"  said  the  younger  gallant.  "  The  man  who  raises 
the  devil  may  be  honest,  but  he  is  answerable  for  the  mischief 
which  the  fiend  does  for  all  that." 

"And  is  this  all  of  you,  my  mates,"  inquired  Tressilian, 
**that  are  about  my  lord  in  his  utmost  straits?" 

"!No — no, "  replied  the  elder  gentleman,  "there  are  Tracy, 
Markham,  and  several  more ;  but  we  keep  watch  here  by  two 
at  once,  and  some  are  weary  and  are  sleeping  in  the  gallery 
above." 

"And  some,"  said  the  young  man,  "are  gone  down  to  the 
dock  yonder  at  Deptford,  to  look  out  such  a  hulk  as  they  may 
purchase  by  clubbing  then-  broken  fortunes ;  and  so  soon  as 
all  is  over  we  will  lay  our  noble  lord  in  a  noble  green  grave. 


182  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

have  a  blow  at  those  who  have  hurried  him  thither,  if  oppor- 
tunity suits,  and  then  sail  for  the  Indies  with  heavy  hearts 
and  light  purses." 

*'  It  may  be, "  said  TressUian,  "  that  I  will  embrace  the  same 
purpose,  so  soon  as  I  have  settled  some  business  at  court." 

"Thou  business  at  court!"  they  both  exclaimed  at  once; 
*'  and  thou  make  the  Indian  voyage!" 

"Why,  Tressilian,"  said  the  younger  man,  "art  thou  not 
wedded,  and  beyond  these  flaws  of  fortunes  that  drive  folks 
out  to  sea  when  their  bark  bears  fairest  for  the  haven? 
What  has  become  of  the  lovely  Indamira  that  was  to  match 
my  Amoret  for  truth  and  beauty?" 

"  Speak  not  of  her!"  said  Tressilian,  averting  his  face. 

"  Ay,  stands  it  so  with  you?"  said  the  youth,  taking  his  hand 
very  affectionately;  "then,  fear  not  I  will  again  touch  the 
green  wound.  But  it  is  strange  as  well  as  sad  news.  Are 
none  of  our  fair  and  merry  fellowship  to  escape  shipwreck  of 
fortune  and  happiness  in  this  sudden  tempest?  I  had  hoped 
thou  wert  in  harbour,  at  least,  my  dear  Edmund.  But  truly 
eays  another  dear  friend  of  thy  name : 

What  man  that  sees  the  ever  whirling  wheel 
Of  change,  the  which  all  mortal  things  doth  sway. 
But  that  thereby  doth  find  and  plainly  feel, 
How  mutability  in  them  doth  play 
Her  cruel  Sports  to  many  men's  decay." 

The  elder  gentleman  had  risen  from  his  bench,  and  was  pac- 
ing the  hall  with  some  impatience,  while  the  youth,  with 
much  earnestness  and  feeling,  recited  these  lines.  When  he 
had  done,  the  other  wrapped  himself  in  his  cloak,  and  again 
stretched  himself  down,  saymg:  "I  marvel,  Tressilian,  you 
will  feed  the  lad  in  this  silly  humour.  If  there  were  aught  to 
draw  a  judgment  upon  a  virtuous  and  honourable  household 
like  my  lord's,  renounce  me  if  I  think  not  it  were  this  piping, 
whining,  chilaish  trick  of  poetry  that  came  among  us  with 
Master  Walter  Wittypate  here  and  his  comrades,  twisting  into 
aU  manner  of  uncouth  and  incomprehensible  forms  of  speech 
the  honest  plain  English  phrase  which  God  gave  us  to  express 
our  meaning  withal." 


KENILWORTH.  183 

"  Blount  believes, "  said  his  comrade,  laughing,  "  the  devil 
woo'd  Eve  in  rhyme,  and  that  the  mystic  meaning  of  the 
Tree  of  Knowledge  refers  solely  to  the  art  of  clashing  rhymes 
and  meting  out  hexameters."  ' 

At  this  moment  the  earl's  chamberlain  entered,  and  informed 
Tressilian  that  his  lord  required  to  speak  with  him. 

He  found  Lord  Sussex  dressed,  but  unbraced  and  lying  oa 
his  couch,  and  was  shocked  at  the  alteration  disease  had  made 
in  his  person.  The  earl  received  him  with  the  most  friendly 
cordiality,  and  inquired  into  the  state  of  his  courtship.  Tres- 
silian evaded  his  inquiries  for  a  moment,  and  turning  his  dis- 
course on  the  earl's  own  health,  he  discovered,  to  his  surprise, 
that  the  symptoms  of  his  disorder  corresponded  minutely  with 
those  which  Wayland  had  predicated  concerning  it.  He  hesi- 
tated not,  therefore,  to  communicate  to  Sussex  the  whole  his- 
tory of  his  attendant,  and  the  pretensions  he  set  up  to  euro 
the  disorder  under  which  he  laboured.  The  earl  listened  with 
incredulous  attention  until  the  name  of  Demetrius  was  men- 
tioned, and  then  suddenly  called  to  his  secretary  to  bring  him 
a  certain  casket  which  contained  papers  of  importance.  "  Take 
out  from  thence, "  he  said,  "  the  declaration  of  the  rascal  cook 
whom  we  had  under  examination,  and  look  heedfully  if  the 
name  of  Demetrius  be  not  there." 

The  secretary  turned  to  the  passage  at  once,  and  read: 
"  And  said  declarant,  beicg  examined,  saith,  That  he  remem- 
bers havuig  made  the  sauce  to  the  said  sturgeon-fish,  after 
eating  of  which  the  said  noble  lord  was  taken  ill ;  and  he  put 
the  usual  ingredients  and  condiments  therein,  namely " 

"  Pass  over  his  trash, "  said  the  earl,  "  and  see  whether  he 
had  not  been  supplied  with  his  materials  by  a  herbalist  called 
Demetrius." 

"  It  is  even  so, "  answered  the  secretary.  "  And  he  adds,  he' 
has  not  since  seen  the  said  Demetrius." 

"This  accords  with  thy  fellow's  story,  Tressilian,"  said  the 
earl;  "call  him  hither." 

On  being  summoned  to  the  earl's  presence,  Wayland  Smith 
told  his  former  tale  with  firmness  and  consistency. 
« See  Sir  Walter  Raleigh,    Note  7. 


184  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

"It  may  be,"  said  the  earl,  "thou  art  sent  by  those  who 
have  begim  this  work,  to  end  it  for  them ;  but  bethink,  if  I 
miscarry  under  thy  medicine,  it  may  go  hard  with  thee." 

"That  were  severe  measures,"  said  Way  land,  "since  the 
issue  of  medicine,  and  the  end  of  life,  are  in  God's  disposal. 
But  I  will  stand  the  risk.  I  have  not  lived  so  long  imder 
ground  to, be  afraid  of  a  grave." 

"Nay,  if  thou  be'st  so  confident,"  said  the  Earl  of  Sussex, 
**  I  will  take  the  risk  too,  for  the  learned  can  do  nothing  for 
me.     TeE  me  how  this  medicine  is  to  be  taken." 

"That  will  I  do  presently,"  said  Way  land;  "  but  allow  me 
to  condition  that,  since  I  incur  all  the  risk  of  this  treatment, 
no  other  physician  shall  be  permitted  to  interfere  with  it. " 

*'  That  is  but  fair, "  replied  the  earl ;  "  and  now  prepare  your 
drug." 

While  Wayland  obeyed  the  earl's  commands,  his  servants, 
by  the  artist's  direction,  undressed  their  master  and  placed 
him  in  bed. 

"I  warn  you,"  he  said,  "that  the  first  operation  of  this 
medicine  will  be  to  produce  a  heavy  sleep,  during  which  time 
the  chamber  must  be  kept  undisturbed,  as  the  consequences 
may  otherwise  be  fatal.  I  myself  will  Avatch  by  the  earl,  with 
any  of  the  gentlemen  of  his  chamber." 

"  Let  all  leave  the  room  save  Stanley  and  this  good  fellow, " 
said  the  earl. 

"And  saving  me  also,"  said  Tressilian.  "I  too  am  deeply 
interested  in  the  effects  of  this  potion." 

"  Be  it  so,  good  friend, "  said  the  earl ;  "  and  now  for  our 
experiment ;  but  first  call  my  secretary  and  chamberlain. " 

"  Bear  witness,"  he  continued,  when  these  officers  arrived — 
"  bear  witness  for  me,  gentlemen,  that  our  honourable  friend 
Tressilian  is  in  no  way  responsible  for  the  effects  which  this 
medicine  may  produce  upon  me,  the  taldng  it  being  my  own 
free  action  and  choice,  in  regard  I  believe  it  to  be  a  remedy 
which  God  has  furnished  me  by  imexpected  means  to  recover 
me  of  my  present  malady.  Commend  me  to  my  noble  and 
princely  mistress ;  and  say  that  I  live  and  die  her  true  servant,' 
and  wish  to  all  about  her  throne  the  same  singleness  of  heart 


KEXILWOETH.  1^ 

aad  -will  to  serve  lier,  with  more  ability  to  do  so  tliaji  liatli 
been  assigned  to  poor  Tbomas  E,atcliffe. " 

He  then  folded  bis  bands,  and  seemed  for  a  second  or  two 
absorbed  in  mental  devotion,  tben  took  tbe  potion  in  bis  band, 
and,  jDausmg,  regarded  Wayland  witb  a  look  tbat  seemed  de- 
signed to  penetrate  bis  very  soul,  but  wbicb  caused  no  anxiety 
or  hesitation  in  tbe  countenance  or  manner  of  tbe  artist. 

"  Here  is  nothing  to  be  feared, "  said  Sussex  to  Tressilian, 
and  swallowed  the  medicine  without  farther  hesitation. 

"  I  am  now  to  pray  your  lordship,"  said  Wayland,  "to  dis- 
pose yourself  to  rest  as  commodiously  as  you  can ;  and  of  you, 
gentlemen,  to  remain  as  still  and  mute  as  if  you  waited  at  your 
mother's  death-bed," 

The  chamberlain  and  secretary  tben  withdrew,  giving  orders 
that  all  doors  should  be  bolted,  and  all  noise  in  the  house 
strictly  prohibited.  Several  gentlemen  were  voluntary  watch- 
ers in  the  hall,  but  none  remained  in  the  chamber  of  the  sick 
eai-1,  save  bis  groom  of  tbe  chamber,  the  ai-tist,  and  Tressilian. 
Wayland  Smith's  predictions  were  speedily  accomplished,  and 
a  sleep  fell  upon  tbe  earl  so  deep  and  sound  that  they  who 
watched  bis  bedside  began  to  fear  that,  in  his  weakened  state, 
be  might  pass  away  without  awakening  from  bis  lethargy. 
Wa3-land  Smith  himself  appeared  anxious,  and  felt  the  temples 
of  the  eaii  slightly  from  time  to  time,  attending  particularly 
to  tbe  state  of  bis  respiration,  which  was  full  and  deep,  but  at 
the  same  time  easy  and  uninterrupted. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

You  loggerTieaded  and  nnpolish'd  groomc, 
What,  no  attendance,  no  regard,  no  duty? 
"Where  is  the  foolish  knave  I  sent  before  ? 

Taming  of  the  Shrew. 

Theke  is  no  period  at  which  men  look  worse  in  the  eyes  of 
each  other,  or  feel  more  micomfortable,  than  when  tbe  first 
dawn  of  daylight  finds  them  watchers.     Even  a  beauty  of  the 


186  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

first  order,  after  tlie  vigils  of  a  ball  are  interrupted  by  the 
dawn,  would  do  wisely  to  withdraw  herself  from  the  gaze  of 
her  fondest  and  most  partial  admirers.  Such  was  the  pale, 
inauspicious,  and  ungrateful  light  which  began  to  beam  upon 
those  who  kept  watch  all  night  in  the  hall  at  Say's  Court,  and 
which  mingled  its  cold,  pale,  blue  diffusion  with  the  red, 
yellow,  and  smoky  beams  of  expiring  lamps  and  torches.  The 
young  gallant  whom  we  noticed  in  our  last  chapter  had  left 
the  room  for  a  few  minutes,  to  learn  the  cause  of  a  knocking 
at  the  outward  gate,  and  on  his  return  was  so  struck  with  the 
forlorn  and  ghastly  aspects  of  his  companions  of  the  watch, 
that  he  exclaimed :  "  Pity  of  my  heart,  my  masters,  how  like 
owls  you  look !  Methinks,  when  the  sun  rises,  I  shall  see  you 
flutter  off  with  your  eyes  dazzled,  to  stick  yourselves  into  the 
next  ivy-tod  or  ruined  steeple." 

"Hold  thy  peace,  thou  gibing  fool,"  said  Blount — "hold 
thy  peace.  Is  this  a  time  for  jeering,  when  the  manhood 
of  England  is  perchance  dying  within  a  wall's  breadth  of 
thee?" 

"There  thou  liest,"  replied  the  gallant. 

"How,  lie!"  exclaimed  Blount,  starting  up — "lie!  and  to 
me?" 

"Why,  so  thou  didst,  thou  peevish  fool,"  answered  the 
youth ;  "  thou  didst  lie  on  that  bench  even  now,  didst  thou  not? 
But  art  thou  not  a  hasty  coxcomb,  to  pick  up  a  wry  word  so 
wrathfully?  Nevertheless,  loving  and  honouring  my  lord  as 
truly  as  thou,  or  any  one,  I  do  say  that,  should  Heaven  take 
him  from  us,  all  England's  manhood  dies  not  with  him." 

"Ay,"  replied  Blount,  "a  good  portion  will  survive  with 
thee,  doubtless." 

"  And  a  good  portion  with  thyself,  Blount,  and  with  stout 
Markham  here,  and  Tracy,  and  all  of  us.  But  I  am  he  will 
best  employ  the  talent  Heaven  has  given  to  us  all." 

"  As  how,  I  prithee?"  said  Blount :  "  tell  us  your  mystery  of 
multiplying. " 

"  Why,  sirs, "  answered  the  youth,  "  ye  are  like  goodly  land, 
which  bears  no  crop  because  it  is  not  quickened  by  manure ; 
but  I  have  that  rising  spirit  in  me  which  will  make  my  poor 


KENILWORTH.  187 

faculties  labour  to  keep  pace  with  it.  My  ambition  will  keep 
my  brain  at  work,  I  warrant  thee." 

"I  pray  to  God  it  does  not  di-ive  thee  mad,"  said  Blount; 
"  for  my  part,  if  we  lose  our  noble  lord,  I  bid  adieu  to  the 
court  and  to  the  camp  both.  I  have  five  hundred  foul  acres 
in  Norfolk,  and  thither  will  I,  and  change  the  court  pantoufle 
for  the  country  hobnail." 

"Obase  transmutation!"  exclaimed  his  antagonist;  "thou 
hast  already  got  the  true  rvistic  slouch :  thy  shoulders  stoop, 
as  if  thine  hands  were  at  the  stilts  of  the  plough,  and  thou 
hast  a  kind  of  earthy  smell  about  thee,  instead  of  being  per^ 
fumed  with  essence,  as  a  gallant  and  courtier  should.  On  my 
soul,  thou  hast  stolen  out  to  roll  thyself  on  a  hay -mow !  Thy 
only  excuse  will  be  to  swear  by  thy  hilts  that  the  farmer  had 
a  fair  daughter. " 

"  I  pray  thee,  Walter,"  said  another  of  the  company,  "cease 
thy  raillery,  which  suits  neither  time  nor  place,  and  tell  us 
who  was  at  the  gate  just  now." 

"  Doctor  Masters,  physician  to  her  Grace  in  ordinary,  sent 
by  her  especial  orders  to  inquire  after  the  earl's  health,"  an- 
swered Walter. 

"Ha!  what!"  exclaimed  Tracy,  "that  was  no  slight  mark 
of  favour;  if  the  earl  can  but  come  through,  he  will  match 
with  Leicester  yet.     Is  Masters  with  my  lord  at  present?" 

"  Nay, "  replied  Walter,  "  he  is  half-way  back  to  Greenwich 
by  this  time,  and  in  high  dudgeon." 

"  Thou  didst  not  refuse  him  admittance?"  exclaimed  Tracy. 

"  Thou  wert  not,  surely,  so  mad?"  ejaculated  Blount. 

"  I  refused  him  admittance  as  flatly,  Blount,  as  you  would 
refuse  a  penny  to  a  blind  beggar;  as  obstinately,  Tracy,  as 
thou  didst  ever  deny  access  to  a  dun." 

"  Why,  in  the  fiend's  name,  didst  thou  trust  him  to  go  to 
the  gate?"  said  Blount  to  Tracy. 

"It  suited  his  years  better  than  mine,"  answered  Tracy; 
**  but  he  has  undone  us  all  now  thoroughly.  My  lord  may  live 
or  die,  he  will  never  have  a  look  of  favour  from  her  Majesty 
again." 

"Nor  the  means  of  making  fortunes  for  his  followers,"  said 


188  WAVERLET  NOVELS. 

the  young  gallant,  smiling  contemptuously;  "there  lies  the 
sore  point  that  will  brook  no  handling.  My  good  sbs,  I 
bounded  my  lamentations  over  my  lord  somewhat  less  loudly 
than  some  of  you ;  but  when  the  jwint  comes  of  doing  him 
service,  I  will  yield  to  none  of  you.  Had  this  learned"  leech 
entered,  thinkst  thou  not  there  had  been  such  a  coil  betwixt 
him  and  Tressilian's  mediciuer  that  not  the  sleeper  only,  but 
the  very  dead,  might  have  awakened?  I  loiow  what  larum 
belongs  to  the  discord  of  doctors." 

"And  who  is  to  take  the  blame  of  opposing  the  Queen's 
orders?"  said  Tracy;  "for,  undeniably.  Doctor  Masters  came 
with  her  Grace's  positive  commands  to  cure  the  earl." 

"  I,  who  have  done  the  wrong,  will  bear  the  blame, "  said 
Walter. 

"  Thus,  then,  off  fly  the  dreams  of  court  favour  thou  hast 
nourished, "  said  Bloimt ;  "  and  despite  all  thy  boasted  art  and 
ambition,  Devonshire  will  see  thee  shine  a  true  younger 
brother,  fit  to  sit  low  at  the  board,  carve  turn  about  with  the 
chaplain,  look  that  the  hounds  be  fed,  and  see  the  squire's 
girths  drawn  when  he  goes  a- hunting." 

"Not  so,"  said  the  young  man,  colouring,  "not  while  Ire- 
land and  the  Netherlands  have  wars,  and  not  while  the  sea 
hath  pathless  waves.  The  rich  West  hath  lands  undreamed 
of,  and  Britain  contains  bold  hearts  to  venture  on  the  quest 
of  them.  Adieu  for  a  space,  my  masters.  I  go  to  walk  in 
the  court  and  look  to  the  sentinels." 

"  The  lad  hath  quicksilver  in  his  veins,  that  is  certain, "  said 
Blount,  looking  at  Markham. 

"  He  hath  that  both  in  brain  and  blood, "  said  Markham, 
*'  which  may  either  make  or  mar  him.  But,  in  closing  the 
door  against  Masters,  he  hath  done  a  daring  and  loving  piece 
of  service;  for  Tressilian's  fellow  hath  ever  averred  that  to 
wake  the  earl  were  death,  and  Masters  would  wake  the  Seven 
Sleepers  themselves,  if  he  thought  they  slept  not  by  the 
regular  ordinance  of  medicine. " 

Morning  was  well  advanced,  when  Tressilian,  fatigued  and 
over- watched,  came  down  to  the  hall  with  the  joyful  intelli- 
gence that  the  earl  had  awakened  of  himself,  that  he  foujid  his 


KENILWORTH.  189 

internal  complaints  much  mitigated,  and  spoke  with,  a  cheer- 
fulness, and  looked  round  with  a  vivacity,  which  of  them- 
selves showed  a  material  and  favourable  change  had  taken 
place.  Tressilian  at  the  same  time  commanded  the  attend- 
ance of  one  or  two  of  his  followers,  to  report  what  had  passed 
during  the  night,  and  to  relieve  the  watchers  in  the  earl's 
chamber. 

When  the  message  of  the  Queen  was  communicated  to  the 
Earl  of  Sussex,  he  at  first  smiled  at  the  repulse  which  the 
physician  had  received  from  his  zealous  young  follower,  but 
instantly  recollectiug  himself,  he  commanded  Blount,  his 
master  of  the  horse,  instantly  to  take  boat  and  go  down  the 
river  to  the  Palace  of  Greenwich,  taking  young  Walter  and 
Tracy  with  him,  and  make  a  suitable  compliment,  expressing 
his  grateful  thanks  to  his  sovereign,  and  mentioning  the  cause 
why  he  had  not  been  enabled  to  profit  by  the  assistance  of  the 
wise  and  learned  Doctor  Masters. 

"  A  plague  on  it, "  said  Blount,  as  he  descended  the  stairs, 
"  had  he  sent  me  with  a  cartel  to  Leicester,  I  think  I  should 
have  done  his  errand  indifferently  well.  But  to  go  to  our 
gracious  sovereign,  before  whom  all  words  must  be  lackered 
over  either  with  gilding  or  with  sugar,  is  such  a  confectionary 
matter  as  clean  baffles  my  poor  old  English  brain.  Come  with 
me,  Tracy ;  and  come  you  too,  Master  Walter  Wittypate,  that 
art  the  cause  of  our  having  all  this  ado.  Let  ns  see  if  thy 
neat  brain,  that  frames  so  many  flashy  fireworks,  can  help  out 
a  plain  fellow  at  need  with  some  of  thy  shrewd  devices." 

"Never  fear — never  fear,"  exclaimed  the  youth,  "it  is  I 
will  help  you  through;  let  me  but  fetch  my  cloak." 

"Why,  thou  hast  it  on  thy  shoulders,"  said  Blount:  "the 
lad  is  mazed." 

"No,  no,  this  is  Tracy's  old  mantle,"  answered  Walter ;  "I 
go  not  with  thee  to  court  unless  as  a  gentleman  should." 

"  Why, "  said  Blount,  "  thy  braveries  are  like  to  dazzle  the 
eyes  of  none  but  some  poor  groom  or  porter." 

"  I  know  that, "  said  the  youth  •  '■  but  I  am  resolved  I  will 
have  my  own  cloak — ay,  and  brush  my  doublet  to  boot — ere 
I  stir  forth  with  you." 


190  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

"  Well — well, "  said  Blount,  "  here  is  a  coil  about  a  doublet 
and  a  cloak;  get  thyself  ready,  a'  God's  name!" 

They  were  soon  launched  on  the  princely  bosom  of  the 
broad  Thames,  upon  which  the  sun  now  shone  forth  in  all  its 
splendour. 

"  There  are  two  things  scarce  matched  in  the  universe, "  said 
Walter  to  Blount — "the  sun  in  heaven,  and  the  Thames  or 
earth." 

"  The  one  will  light  us  to  Greenwich  well  enough, "  said 
Blount,  "  and  the  other  would  take  us  there  a  little  faster  if  it 
were  ebb  tide." 

"And  this  is  all  thou  think' st — all  thou  carest — aU  thou 
deem'st  the  use  of  the  king  of  elements  and  the  king  of  rivers, 
to  guide  three  such  poor  caitiffs  as  thyself,  and  me,  and  Tracy 
upon  an  idle  journey  of  courtly  ceremony!" 

"It  is  no  errand  of  my  seeking,  faith,"  replied  Blount, 
**  and  I  could  excuse  both  the  sun  and  the  Thames  the  trouble 
of  carrying  me  where  I  have  no  great  mind  to  go,  and  where 
I  expect  but  dog's  wages  for  my  trouble ;  and  by  my  honour," 
he  added,  looking  out  from  the  head  of  the  boat,  "  it  seems  to 
me  as  if  our  message  were  a  sort  of  labour  in  vain ;  for  see, 
the  Queen's  barge  lies  at  the  stairs,  as  if  her  Majesty  were 
about  to  take  water." 

It  was  even  so.  The  royal  barge,  manned  with  the  Queen's 
watermen,  richly  attired  in  the  regal  liveries,  and  having  the 
banner  of  England  displayed,  did  indeed  lie  at  the  great  stairs 
which  ascended  from  the  river,  and  along  with  it  two  or  three 
other  boats  for  transporting  such  part  of  her  retinue  as  were 
not  in  immediate  attendance  on  the  royal  person.  The  yeo- 
m.en  of  the  guard,  the  tallest  and  most  handsome  men  whom 
England  could  produce,  guarded  with  their  halberds  the  pas- 
sage from  the  palace  gate  to  the  river-side,  and  all  seemed  in 
readiness  for  the  Queen's  coming  forth,  although  the  day  was 
yet  so  early. 

"By  my  faith,  this  bodes  us  no  good,"  said  Blount:  "it 
must  be  some  perilous  cause  puts  her  Grace  in  motion  thus 
untimeously.  By  my  counsel,  we  were  best  put  back  again, 
and  teU  the  earl  what  we  have  seen." 


KENILWORTH.  191 

"Tell  the  earl  what  we  have  seen!"  said  "Walter;  "why, 
what  have  we  seen  but  a  boat,  and  men  with  scarlet  jerkins, 
and  halberds  in  their  hands?  Let  us  do  his  errand,  and  tell 
him  what  the  Queen  says  in  reply." 

So  saying,  he  caused  the  boat  to  be  pulled  towards  a  landing- 
place  at  some  distance  from  the  principal  one,  which  it  would 
not,  at  that  moment,  have  been  thought  resj)ectf ul  to  approach, 
and  jumped  on  shore,  followed,  though  with  reluctance,  by  his 
cautious  and  timid  companions.  As  they  approached  the  gate 
of  the  palace,  one  of  the  sergeant  porters  told  them  they  could 
not  at  present  enter,  as  her  Majesty  was  in  the  act  of  coming 
forth.  The  gentlemen  used  the  name  of  the  Earl  of  Sussex ; 
but  it  proved  no  charm  to  subdue  the  oflicer,  who  alleged  in 
reply,  that  it  was  as  much  as  his  post  was  worth  to  disobey  in 
the  least  tittle  the  commands  which  he  had  received. 

"Nay,  I  told  you  as  much  before,"  said  Blomit;  "do,  I 
pray  you,  my  dear  Walter,  let  us  take  boat  and  return." 

"'  Not  till  I  see  the  Queen  come  forth, "  returned  the  youth, 
composedly. 

"  Thou  art  mad — stark  mad,  by  the  mass !"  answered  Blount. 

"  And  thou, "  said  Walter,  "  art  turned  coward  of  the  sudden. 
I  have  seen  thee  face  half  a  score  of  shag-headed  Irish  kernes 
to  thy  own  share  of  them,  and  now  thou  wouldst  blink  and  go 
back  to  shun  the  frown  of  a  fair  lady!" 

At  this  moment  the  gates  opened,  and  ushers  began  to  issue 
forth  in  array,  preceded  and  flanked  by  the  band  of  gentlemen 
pensioners.  After  this,  amid  a  crowd  of  lords  and  ladies,  yet 
80  disposed  around  her  that  she  could  see  and  be  seen  on  all 
sides,  came  Elizabeth  herself,  then  in  the  prime  of  woman- 
hood, and  in  the  full  glow  of  what  in  a  sovereign  was  called 
beauty,  and  who  would  in  the  lowest  rank  of  life  have  been 
truly  judged  a  noble  figure,  joined  to  a  strikmg  and  command- 
ing physiognomy.  She  leant  on  the  arm  of  Lord  Hunsdon, 
whose  relation  to  her  by  her  mother's  side  often  procured  him 
such  distinguished  marks  of  Elizabeth's  intimacy. 

The  young  cavalier  we  have  so  often  mentioned  had  probably 
never  yet  approached  so  near  the  person  of  his  sovereign,  and 
he  pressed  forward  as  far  as  the  line  of  warders  permitted,  in 


192  WAVERLET  NOVELS. 

order  to  avail  himself  of  the  present  opportunity.  His  com- 
panion, on  the  contrary,  cursing  his  imprudence,  kept  pulling 
him  backwards,  till  Walter  shook  him  off  impatiently,  and 
letting  his  rich  cloak  drop  carelessly  from  one  shoulder — a 
natural  action,  which  served,  however,  to  display  to  the  best 
advantage  his  well-proportioned  person — unbonneting  at  the 
same  time,  he  fixed  his  eager  gaze  on  the  Queen's  approach, 
with  a  mixture  of  respectful  curiosity  and  modest  yet  ardent 
admiration,  which  suited  so  well  with  his  fine  features,  that 
the  warders,  struck  with  his  rich  attire  and  noble  countenance, 
suffered  him  to  approach  the  ground  over  which  the  Queea 
was  to  pass  somewhat  closer  than  was  permitted  to  ordinary 
spectators.  Thus  the  adventurous  youth  stood  full  in  Eliza- 
beth's eye — an  eye  never  indifferent  to  the  admiration  which  she 
deservedly  excited  among  her  subjects,  or  to  the  fair  propor- 
tions of  external  form  which  chanced  to  distinguish  any  of  her 
courtiers.  Accordingly,  she  fixed  her  keen  glance  on  the 
youth,  as  she  approached  the  place  where  he  stood,  with  a 
look  in  which  surprise  at  his  boldness  seemed  to  be  un mingled 
with  resentment,  while  a  trifling  accident  happened  which  at- 
tracted her  attention  towards  him  yet  more  strongly.  The 
night  had  been  rainy,  and,  just  where  the  young  gentleman 
stood,  a  small  quantity  of  mud  interrupted  the  Queen's  pas- 
sage. As  she  hesitated  to  pass  on,  the  gallant,  throwing  his 
cloak  from  his  shoulders,  laid  it  on  the  miry  spot,  so  as  to 
ensure  her  stepping  over  it  dry-shod.  Elizabeth  looked  at 
the  young  man,  who  accompanied  this  act  of  devoted  courtesy 
with  a  profound  reverence,  and  a  blush  that  overspread  his 
whole  countenance.  The  Queen  was  confused,  and  blushed  in 
her  turn,  nodded  her  head,  hastily  passed  on,  and  embarked 
in  her  barge  without  saying  a  word. 

"  Come  along,  sir  coxcomb, "  said  Blount ;  "  your  gay  cloak 
will  n^ed  the  brush  to-day,  I  wot.  Nay,  if  you  had  meant 
to  make  a  foot-cloth  of  your  mantle,  better  have  kept  Tracy's 
old  drah-de-hure^  which  despises  all  colours." 

"This  cloak,"  said  the  youth,  takuig  it  up  and  folding  it, 
"shall  never  be  brushed  while  in  my  possession." 

**  And  that  will  not  be  long,  if  you  learn  not  a  little  more 


EENILWORTH.  193 

economy :  we  shall  have  you  in  cuerpo  soon,  a3  the  Spaniard 
says." 

Their  discourse  was  here  interrupted  by  one  of  the  band  of 
pensioners. 

"I  was  sent,"  said  he,  after  looking  at  them  attentively, 
"  to  a  gentleman  who  hath  no  cloak,  or  a  muddy  one.  You, 
sir,  I  think,"  addressing  the  young  cavalier,  "are  the  man; 
you  will  please  to  follow  me." 

"He  is  in  attendance  on  me,"  said  Blount — "on  me,  the 
noble  Earl  of  Sussex's  master  of  horse." 

"I  have  nothing  to  say  to  that,"  answered  the  messenger; 
"my  orders  are  directly  from  her  Majesty,  and  concern  this 
gentleman  only." 

So  saying,  he  walked  away,  followed  by  Walter,  leaving 
the  others  behmd,  Blount's  eyes  almost  starting  from  his  head 
with  the  excess  of  his  astonishment.  At  length  he  gave  vent 
to  it  in  an  exclamation,  "Who  the  good j ere  would  have 
thought  this !"  And  shaking  his  head  witJ?  a  mysterious  aii^ 
he  walked  to  his  own  boat,  embarked,  and  returned  to  Dept* 
ford. 

The  young  cavalier  was,  in  the  mean  while,  guided  to  the 
water-side  by  the  pensioner,  who  showed  him  considerable 
respect — a  circumstance  which,  to  persons  in  his  situation, 
may  be  considered  as  an  augury  of  no  small  consequence.  He 
ushered  him  into  one  of  the  wherries  which  lay  ready  to  attend 
the  Queen's  barge,  which  was  already  proceeding  up  the  river, 
with  the  advantage  of  that  flood-tide  of  which,  in  the  course 
of  their  descent,  Blount  had  complained  to  his  associates. 

The  two  rowers  used  their  oars  with  such  expedition,  at  the 
signal  of  the  gentleman  pensioner,  that  they  very  soon  brought 
their  little  skiff  under  the  stern  of  the  Queen's  boat,  where  she 
sate  beneath  an  awning,  attended  by  two  or  three  ladies  and 
the  nobles  of  her  household.  She  looked  more  than  once  at 
the  wherry  in  which  the  young  adventurer  was  seated,  spoke  to 
those  around  her,  and  seemed  to  laugh.  At  length  one  of  the 
attendants,  by  the  Queen's  order  apparently,  made  a  sign  for 
the  wherry  to  come  alongside,  and  the  yoimg  man  was  desired 
to  step  from  his  own  skiff  into  the  Queen's  barge,  which  he 
13 


194  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

performed  witli  graceful  agility  at  tlie  fore  part  of  the  boat, 
and  was  brought  aft  to  the  Queen's  presence,  the  wherry  at 
the  same  time  dropping  into  the  rear.  The  youth  underwent 
the  gaze  of  majesty  not  the  less  gracefully  that  his  self- 
possession  was  mingled  with  embarrassment.  The  muddied 
cloak  still  hung  upon  his  arm,  and  formed  the  natural  topic 
with  which  the  Queen  introduced  the  conversation. 

"  You  have  this  day  spoiled  a  gay  mantle  in  our  behalf, 
young  man.  We  thank  you  for  your  service,  though  the 
manner  of  offering  it  was  unusual,  and  something  bold." 

"In  a  sovereign's  need,"  answered  the  youth,  "it  is  each 
liege-man's  duty  to  be  bold." 

"  God's  pity!  that  was  well  said,  my  lord,"  said  the  Queen, 
turning  to  a  grave  person  who  sate  by  her,  and  answered  with 
a  grave  inclination  of  the  head  and  something  of  a  mumbled 
assent.  "  Well,  young  man,  your  gallantry  shall  not  go  unre- 
warded. Go  to  the  wardi'obe-keeper,  and  he  shall  have  orders 
to  supply  the  suit  which  you  have  cast  away  in  our  service. 
Thou  shalt  have  a  suit,  and  that  of  the  newest  cut,  I  promise 
thee,  on  the  word  of  a  princess." 

"  May  it  please  your  Grace, "  said  Walter,  hesitating,  "  it  is 
not  for  so  humble  a  servant  of  your  Majesty  to  measure  out 
your  bounties ;  but  if  it  became  me  to  choose " 

"Thou  wouldst  have  gold,  I  warrant  me?"  said  the  Queen, 
interrupting  him.  "Fy,  yoimg  man!  I  take  shame  to  say 
that,  in  our  capital,  such  and  so  various  are  the  means  of 
thriftless  folly,  that  to  give  gold  to  youth  is  giving  fuel  to 
fire,  and  furnishing  them  with  the  means  of  self-destruction. 
If  I  live  and  reign,  these  means  of  unchristian  excess  shall  be 
abridged.  Yet  thou  mayst  be  poor,"  she  added,  "or  thy 
parents  may  be.  It  shall  be  gold,  if  thou  wilt,  but  thou  shalt 
answer  to  me  for  the  use  on't." 

Walter  waited  patiently  until  the  Queen  had  done,  and 
then  modestly  assured  her  that  gold  was  still  less  in  his  wish 
than  the  raiment  her  Majesty  had  before  offered. 

"How,  boy!"  said  the  Queen,  " neither  gold  nor  garment! 
What  is  io  thou  wouldst  have  of  me,  then?" 

**  Only  permission,  madam — if  it  is  not  asking  too  high  an 


KENILWORTH.  195 

honour — permission  to  wear  the  cloak  which  did  you  this 
trifling  service." 

"Permission  to  wear  thine  own  cloak,  thou  silly  boy!" 
said  the  Queen. 

"  It  is  no  longer  mine, "  said  Walter ;  "  when  your  Majesty's 
foot  touched  it,  it  became  a  fit  mantle  for  a  prince,  but  far  too 
rich  a  one  for  its  former  owner. " 

The  Queen  again  blushed;  and  endeavoured  to  cover,  by 
laughing,  a  slight  degree  of  not  unpleasing  surprise  and  con- 
fusion. 

"  Heard  you  ever  the  like,  my  lords?  The  youth's  head  is 
turned  with  reading  romances.  I  must  know  something  of 
him,  that  I  may  send  him  safe  to  his  friends.     What  art  thou?" 

"  A  gentleman  of  the  household  of  the  Earl  of  Sussex,  so 
please  your  Grace,  sent  hither  with  his  master  of  horse,  upon. 
a  message  to  your  Majesty." 

In  a  moment  the  gracious  expression  which  Elizabeth's  face 
had  hitherto  maintained  gave  way  to  an  expression  of  haughti- 
ness and  severity. 

"  My  Lord  of  Sussex, "  she  said,  "  has  taught  us  how  to  re- 
gard his  messages,  by  the  value  he  places  upon  ours.  We 
sent  but  this  mornmg  the  physician  in  ordinary  of  our  cham- 
ber, and  that  at  no  usual  time,  understanding  his  lordship's 
illness  to  be  more  dangerous  than  we  had  before  apprehended. 
There  is  at  no  court  in  Europe  a  man  more  skilled  in  this  holy 
and  most  useful  science  than  Doctor  Masters,  and  he  came 
from  us  to  our  subject.  Nevertheless,  he  found  the  gate  of 
Say's  Court  defended  by  men  with  culverins  as  if  it  had  been 
on  the  Borders  of  Scotland,  not  in  the  vicinity  of  our  court; 
and  when  he  demanded  admittance  in  our  name,  it  was  stub- 
bornly refused.  Eor  this  slight  of  a  kindness,  which  had  but 
too  much  of  condescension  in  it,  we  will  receive,  at  present  at 
least,  no  excuse ;  and  some  such  we  suppose  to  have  been  the 
purport  of  my  Lord  of  Sussex's  message." 

This  was  uttered  in  a  tone,  and  with  a  gesture,  which  made 
Lord  Sussex's  friends  who  were  within  hearmg  tremble.  He 
to  whom  the  speech  was  addressed,  however,  trembled  not; 
but  with  great  deference  and  humility,  as  soon  as  the  Queen's 


196  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

passion  gave  him  an  oppoi-tunity,  he  replied :  "  So  please  yon? 
most  gracious  Majesty,  I  was  charged  with  no  apology  from 
the  Earl  of  Sussex." 

"With  what  were  you  then  charged,  sir?"  said  the  Queen, 
with  the  impetuosity  which,  amid  nobler  qualities,,  sti'ongly 
marked  her  character;  "was  it  with  a  justification?  or,  God's 
death!  with  a  defiance?" 

"  Madam, "  said  the  yonng  man,  "  my  Lord  of  Sussex  knew 
the  offence  approached  towards  treason,  and  could  think  of 
nothing  save  of  securing  the  offender,  and  placing  him  in  your 
Majesty's  hands,  and  at  yoixr  mercy.  The  noble  earl  was  fast 
asleep  when  your  most  gracious  message  reached  him,  a  ^wtion 
having  been  administered  to  that  purpose  by  his  physician; 
and  his  lordship  knew  not  of  the  ungracious  repluseyour  Maj- 
esty's royal  and  most  comfortable  message  had  received  until 
after  he  awoke  this  morning." 

"  And  which  of  his  domestics,  then,  in  the  name  of  Heaven, 
presumed  to  reject  my  message,  without  even  admitting  my 
o^vn  physician  to  the  presence  of  him  whom  I  sent  him  to 
attend?"  said  the  Queen,  much  sui-prised. 

"  The  offender,  madam,  is  before  you, "  replied  Walter, 
bowing  very  low :  "  the  full  and  sole  blame  is  mine ;  and  my 
lord  has  most  justly  sent  me  to  abye  the  consequences  of  a 
fault  of  which  he  is  as  iimocent  as  a  sleeping  man's  dreams 
can  be  of  a  waking  man's  actions." 

"What!  was  it  thou? — thou  thyself,  that  repelled  my  mes- 
senger and  my  physician  from  Say's  Court?"  said  the  Queen. 
*'  What  oould  occasion  such  boldness  in  one  who  seems  devot- 
ed— that  is,  whose  exterior  bearing  shows  devotion — to  his 
sovereign?" 

"  Madam, "  said  the  youth,  who,  notwithstanding  an  assumed 
appearance  of  severity,  thought  that  he  saw  something  in  the 
Queen's  face  that  resembled  not  implacability,  "  we  say  in  our 
country  that  the  physician  is  for  the  time  the  liege  sovereign 
of  his  patient.  Now,  my  noble  master  was  then  under 
dominion  of  a  leech,  by  whose  advice  he  hath  greatly  profited, 
who  had  issued  his  commands  that  his  patient  should  not  that 
night  be  disturbed,  on  the  very  peril  of  his  life. " 


KEML  WORTH.  197 

'*'  Tliy  master  liatli  trusted  some  false  varlet  of  an  empiric, "' 
said  the  Queen. 

"  I  know  not,  madam,  but  by  the  fact  that  he  is  now,  this 
very  morning,  awakened  much  refreshed  and  strengthened, 
from  the  only  sleep  he  hath  had  for  many  hours." 

The  nobles  looked  at  each  other,  but  more  with  the  purpose 
to  see  what  each  thought  of  this  news  than  to  exchange  any 
remarks  on  what  had  happened.  The  Queen  answered  hastily, 
and  without  affecting  to  disguise  her  satisfaction :  "  By  my 
word,  I  am  glad  he  is  better.  But  thou  wert  over  bold  to 
deny  the  access  of  my  Doctor  Masters.  I^ow'st  thou  not 
the  Holy  Writ  saith,  *In  the  multitude  of  counsel  there  is 
safety'?" 

"  Ay,  madam, "  said  Walter,  "  but  I  have  heard  learned  men 
eay  that  the  safety  spoken  of  is  for  the  j)hysieians,  not  for  the 
patient." 

"  By  my  faith,  child,  thou  hast  pushed  me  home, "  said  the 
Queen,  laughing;  "for  my  Hebrew  learning  does  not  come 
quite  at  a  call.  How  say  you,  my  Lord  of  Lincoln?  Hath 
the  lad  given  a  just  interpretation  of  the  text?" 

"  The  word,  'safety, '  most  gracious  madam, "  said  the  Bishop 
of  Lincoln,  "  for  so  hath  been  ta^nslated,  it  may  be  somewhat 
hastily,  the  Hebrew  word,  being " 

"  My  lord, "  said  the  Queen,  interrupting  him,  "  we  said  we 
had  forgotten  our  Hebrew.  But  for  thee,  young  man,  what 
is  thy  name  and  birth?" 

"  Raleigh  is  my  name,  most  gracious  Queen — ^the  youngest 
son  of  a  large  but  honourable  family  of  Devonshire." 

"Raleigh!"  said  Elizabeth,  after  a  moment's  recollection; 
"have  Ave  not  heard  of  your  service  in  Ireland?" 

"  I  have  been  so  fortunate  as  to  do  some  service  there, 
madam, "  replied  Raleigh ;  "  scarce,  however,  of  consequence 
sufficient  to  reach  your  Grace's  ears." 

"  They  hear  farther  than  you  think  of, "  said  the  Queen, 
graciously,  "  and  have  heard  of  a  youth  who  defended  a  ford 
in  Shannon  against  a  whole  band  of  wild  Irish  rebels,  until 
the  stream  ran  purple  with  their  blood  and  his  own." 

"Some  blood  I  may  have  lost,"  said  the  youth,  looking 


198  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

down,  "  but  it  was  where  my  best  is  due,  and  that  is  in  your 
Majesty's  service." 

The  Queen  paused,  and  then  said  hastily :  "  You  are  very 
young  to  have  fought  so  well  and  to  speak  so  well.  But  you 
must  not  escape  your  penance  for  turning  back  Masters. 
The  poor  man  hath  caught  cold  on  the  river;  for  our  order 
reached  him  when  he  was  just  returned  from  certain  visits  in 
London,  and  he  held  it  matter  of  loyalty  and  conscience  in- 
stantly to  set  forth  again.  So  hark  ye.  Master  Raleigh,  see 
thou  fail  not  to  wear  thy  muddy  cloak,  in  token  of  penitence, 
till  our  pleasure  be  farther  known.  And  here,"  she  added, 
giving  him  a  jewel  of  gold  in  the  form  of  a  chessman,  "  I  give 
thee  this  to  wear  at  the  collar." 

Raleigh,  to  whom  nature  had  taught  intuitively,  as  it  were, 
those  courtly  arts  which  many  scarce  acquire  from  long  experi- 
ence, knelt,  and,  as  he  took  from  her  hand  the  jewel,  kissed 
the  fingers  which  gave  it.  He  knew,  perhaps,  better  than 
almost  any  of  the  courtiers  who  surrounded  her,  how  to  mingle 
the  devotion  claimed  by  the  Queen  with  the  gallantry  due  to 
her  personal  beauty;  and  in  this,  his  first  attempt  to  unite 
them,  he  succeeded  so  well  as  at  once  to  gratify  Elizabeth's 
personal  vanity  and  her  love  of  power. ' 

His  master,  the  Earl  of  Sussex,  had  the  full  advantage  of 
the  satisfaction  which  Raleigh  had  afforded  Elizabeth  on  their 
first  interview. 

"  My  lords  and  ladies, "  said  the  Queen,  looking  around  to 
the  retinue  by  whom  she  was  attended,  "  methinks,  since  we 
are  upon  the  river,  it  were  well  to  renounce  our  present  pur- 
pose of  going  to  the  city,  and  surprise  this  poor  Earl  of  Sussex 
with  a  visit.  He  is  ill,  and  suffering  doubtless  under  the  fear 
of  our  displeasure,  from  which  he  hath  been  honestly  cleared 
by  the  frank  avowal  of  this  malapert  boy.  What  think  ye? 
Were  it  not  an  act  of  charity  to  give  him  such  consolation 
as  the  thanks  of  a  queen,  much  bound  to  him  for  his  loyal 
service,  may  perchance  best  mmister?" 

It  may  be  readily  supposed  that  none  to  whom  this  speech 
was  addressed  ventured  to  oppose  its  purport. 

» See  Court  Favour  of  Sir  Walter  Raleigh.    Note  8. 


KENILWORTH.  199 

"  Your  Grace, "  said  the  Bishop  of  Lincoln,  "  is  the  breath 
of  our  nostrils."  The  men  of  war  averred  that  the  face  of  the 
sovereign  was  a  whetstone  to  the  soldier's  sword;  while  the 
men  of  state  were  not  less  of  opinion  that  the  light  of  the 
Queen's  coimtenance  was  a  lamp  to  the  paths  of  her  council- 
lors ;  and  the  ladies  agreed  with  one  voice  that  no  noble  in 
England  so  well  deserved  the  regard  of  England's  royal  mis- 
tress as  the  Earl  of  Sussex — the  Earl  of  Leicester's  right  being 
reserved  entire,  so  some  of  the  more  politic  worded  their  as- 
sent— an  exception  to  which  Elizabeth  paid  no  apparent  atten- 
tion. The  barge  had,  therefore,  orders  to  deposit  its  royal 
freight  at  Deptford,  at  the  nearest  and  most  convenient  point 
of  commimication  with  Say's  Court,  in  order  that  the  Queen 
might  satisfy  her  royal  and  maternal  solicitude  by  making 
personal  inquiries  after  the  health  of  the  Earl  of  Sussex. 

Raleigh,  whose  acute  spirit  foresaw  and  anticipated  impor- 
tant consequences  from  the  most  trifling  events,  hastened  to 
ask  the  Queen's  permission  to  go  in  the  skiff,  and  announce 
the  royal  visit  to  his  master ;  ingeniously  suggesting  that  the 
joyful  surprise  might  prove  prejudicial  to  his  health,  since  the 
richest  and  most  generous  cordials  may  sometimes  be  fatal  to 
those  who  have  been  long  in  a  languishmg  state. 

But  whether  the  Queen  deemed  it  too  presumptuous  in  so 
young  a  courtier  to  interpose  his  opinion  unasked,  or  whether 
she  was  moved  by  a  recurrence  of  the  feeling  of  jealousy,  which 
had  been  instilled  into  her  by  reports  that  the  earl  kept  armed 
men  about  his  person,  she  desired  Ealeigh,  sharply,  to  reserve 
his  counsel  till  it  was  required  of  him,  and  repeated  her  former 
orders  to  be  landed  at  Deptford,  adding :  "  We  will  ourselves 
see  what  sort  of  household  my  Lord  of  Sussex  keeps  about 
him." 

"  Now  the  Lord  have  pity  on  us !"  said  the  young  courtier 
to  himself.  "  Good  hearts  the  earl  hath  many  a  one  round 
him,  but  good  heads  are  scarce  with  us ;  and  he  himself  is  too 
iU  to  give  direction.  And  Bloimt  will  be  at  his  morning  meal 
of  Yarmouth  herrings  and  ale ;  and  Tracy  will  have  his  beastly 
black  puddings  and  Rhenish ;  those  thorough-paced  Welshmen, 
Thomas  ap  Rice  and  Evan  Evans,  will  be  at  work  on  their  leek 


200  WAVERLEY  InOVELS. 

porridge  and  toasted  cheese;  and  slie  detests,  they  say,  all 
coarse  meats,  evil  smells,  and  strong  wines.  Could  they  but 
think  of  burning  some  rosemary  in  the  great  hall!  but  vogue  la 
galere,  all  must  now  be  trusted  to  chance.  Luck  hath  done  in- 
different well  for  me  this  morning,  for  I  trust  I  have  spoiled  a 
cloak  and  made  a  court  fortune.  May  she  do  as  much  for  my 
gallant  patron!" 

The  royal  barge  soon  stopped  at  Deptford,  and,  amid  the 
loud  shouts  of  the  populace,  which  her  presence  never  failed 
to  exei-te,  the  Queen,  with  a  canopy  borne  over  her  head, 
walked,  accompanied  by  her  retinue,  towards  Say's  Court, 
where  the  distant  acclamations  of  the  j)eopie  gave  the  first 
notice  of  her  arrival.  Sussex,  who  was  in  the  act  of  advising 
with  Tressilian  how  he  should  make  up  the  supposed  breach 
in  the  Queen's  favour,  was  infinitel}^  surprised  at  learnmg  her 
immediate  approach — not  that  the  Queen's  custom  of  visiting 
her  more  distinguished  nobility,  whether  in  health  or  sick- 
ness, could  be  vmknown  to  him;  but  the  suddenness  of  the 
communication  left  no  time  for  those  preparations  with  which 
he  well  knew  Elizabeth  loved  to  be  greeted,  and  the  rudeness 
and  confusion  of  his  military  household,  much  increased  by 
his  late  illness,  rendered  him  altogether  unprepared  for  her 
reception. 

Cursing  internally  the  chance  which  thus  brought  her  gra- 
cious visitation  on  him  unaware,  he  hastened  down  with  Tres- 
silian, to  whose  eventful  and  interesting  story  he  had  just 
given  an  attentive  ear. 

"  My  worthy  friend, "  he  said,  "  such  support  as  I  can  give 
your  accusation  of  Yarney,  you  have  a  right  to  expect,  alike 
from  justice  and  gratitude.  Chance  will  presently  show 
whether  I  can  do  aught  with  our  sovereign,  or  whether,  in  very 
deed,  my  meddling  in  your  affair  may  not  rather  prejudice 
than  serve  you." 

Thus  spoke  Sussex,  while  hastily  casting  aroimd  him  a  loose 
robe  of  sables,  and  adjusting  his  person  in  the  best  manner  he 
could  to  meet  the  eye  of  his  sovereign.  But  no  hurried  atten- 
tion bestowed  on  his  apparel  could  remove  the  ghastly  effects 
of  long  illness  on  a  countenance  which  nature  had  marked  with 


KENILWORTH.  201 

features  rather  strong  than  pleasing.  Besides,  he  was  low  of 
stature,  and,  though  broad-shouldered,  athletic,  and  fit  for 
martial  achievements,  his  presence  in  a  peaceful  hall  was  not 
such  as  ladies  love  to  look  upon — a  personal  disadvantage 
which  was  supposed  to  give  Sussex,  though  esteemed  and 
honoured  by  his  sovereign,  considerable  disadvantage  when 
compared  with  Leicester,  who  was  alike  remarkable  for  ele- 
gance of  manners  and  for  beauty  of  person. 

The  earl's  utmost  despatch  only  enabled  him  to  meet  the 
Queen  as  she  entei-ed  the  great  hall,  and  he  at  once  perceived 
there  was  a  cloud  on  her  brow.  Her  jealous  eye  had  noticed 
the  martial  array  of  armed  gentlemen  and  retainers  with  which 
the  mansion-house  was  filled,  and  her  first  words  expressed  her 
disapprobation :  "  Is  this  a  royal  garrison,  my  Lord  of  Sussex, 
that  it  holds  so  many  pikes  and  calivers?  Or  have  we  by 
accident  overshot  Say's  Court,  and  landed  at  our  Tower  of 
London?" 

Lord  Sussex  hastened  to  offer  some  apology. 

"  It  needs  not, "  she  said.  "  My  lord,  we  intend  speedily  to 
take  up  a  certain  quarrel  between  your  lordship  and  another 
great  lord  of  our  household,  and  at  the  same  time  to  reprehend 
this  uncivilised  and  dangerous  practice  of  surrounding  jonv 
selves  with  armed,  and  even  with  ruffianly,  followers,  as  if,  in 
the  neighbourhood  of  our  capital,  nay,  in  the  very  verge  of  our 
royal  residence,  you  were  preparing  to  wage  civil  war  with 
each  other.  We  are  glad  to  see  you  so  well  recovered,  my 
lord,  though  without  the  assistance  of  the  learned  phj^ician 
whom  we  sent  to  you.  Urge  no  excuse ;  we  know  how  that 
matter  fell  out,  and  we  have  corrected  for  it  the  wild  slip, 
yoimg  Raleigh.  By  the  way,  my  lord,  we  will  speedily  relieve 
your  household  of  him,  and  take  him  into  our  own.  Some- 
thing there  is  about  hun  which  merits  to  be  better  nurtured 
than  he  is  like  to  be  amongst  your  very  military  followers." 

To  this  proposal  Sussex,  though  scarce  understanding  how 
the  Queen  came  to  make  it,  could  only  bow  and  express  his 
acquiescence.  He  then  entreated  her  to  remaui  till  refresh- 
ment coidd  be  offered,  but  iii  this  he  could  not  prevail.  And, 
after  a  few  compliments  of  a  much  colder  and  more  common^ 


202  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

place  character  than  might  have  been  expected  from  a  step  so 
decidedly  favourable  as  a  personal  visit,  the  Queen  took  her 
leave  of  Say's  Court,  having  brought  confusion  thither  along 
with  her,  and  leaving  doubt  and  apprehension  behind. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 


Then  call  them  to  our  presence.    Face  to  face, 
And  frowning  brow  to  brow,  ourselves  will  hear 
The  accuser  and  accused  freely  speak  ; 
High-stomach'd  are  they  both  and  full  of  ire, 
In  rage  deaf  as  the  sea,  hasty  as  fire. 

Richard  II. 

"  I  AM  ordered  to  attend  court  to-morrow, "  said  Leicester, 
speaking  to  Varney,  "  to  meet,  as  they  surmise,  my  Lord  of 
Sussex.  The  Queen  intends  to  take  up  matters  betwixt  us. 
This  comes  of  her  visit  to  Say's  Court,  of  which  you  must 
needs  speak  so  lightly." 

"I  maintain  it  was  nothing,"  said  Varney;  "nay,  I  know 
from  a  sure  intelligencer  who  was  within  ear-shot  of  much 
that  was  said,  that  Sussex  has  lost  rather  than  gained  by  that 
visit.  The  Queen  said,  when  she  stepped  into  the  boat,  that 
Say's  Court  looked  like  a  guard-house,  and  smelt  like  an  hos- 
pital. 'Like  a  cook's  shop  in  Ram's  Alley,  rather,'  said  the 
Countess  of  Rutland,  who  is  ever  your  lordship's  good  friend. 
And  then  my  Lord  of  Lincoln  must  needs  put  in  his  holy  oar, 
and  say,  that  my  Lord  of  Sussex  must  be  excused  for  his  rude 
and  old-world  housekeeping,  since  he  had  as  yet  no  wife." 

"And  what  said  the  Queen?"  asked  Leicester,  hastily. 

"She  took  him  up  roundly,"  said  Varney,  "and  asked  what 
my  Lord  of  Sussex  had  to  do  with  a  wife,  or  my  lord  bishop 
to  speak  on  such  a  subject.  *If  marriage  is  permitted,*  she 
said,  *I  nowhere  read  that  it  is  enjoined.'  " 

"  She  likes  not  marriages,  or  speech  of  marriage,  among 
churchmen,"  said  Leicester, 

"  Nor  among  courtiers  neither, "  said  Varney ;  but,  observing 
that  Leicester  changed  countenance,  he  instantly  added :  "  That 


KENILWORTH.  203 

all  the  ladies  who  were  present  had  joined  in  ridiculing  Lord 
Sussex's  housekeeping,  and  in  contrasting  it  with  the  recep- 
tion her  Grace  would  have  assuredly  received  at  my  Lord  of 
Leicester's." 

"You  have  gathered  much  tidings,"  said  Leicester,  "but 
you  have  forgotten  or  omitted  the  most  important  of  all.  She 
hath  added  another  to  those  dangling  satellites  whom  it  is  her 
pleasure  to  keep  revolving  aromid  her." 

"Your  lordship  meaneth  that  Ealeigh,  the  Devonshire 
youth, "  said  Varney — "  the  Knight  of  the  Cloak,  as  they  call 
him  at  court?" 

"  He  may  be  Knight  of  the  Garter  one  day,  for  aught  I 
know,"  said  Leicester,  "for  he  advances  rapidly.  She  hath 
cap'd  verses  with  him,  and  such  fooleries.  I  would  gladly 
abandon,  of  my  own  free  will,  the  part  I  have  m  her  fickle 
favour ;  but  I  will  not  be  elbowed  out  of  it  by  the  clown  Sus- 
sex or  this  new  upstart.  I  hear  Tressilian  is  with  Sussex  also, 
and  high  in  his  favour.  I  would  spare  him  for  considerations, 
but  he  will  thrust  himself  on  his  fate.  Sussex,  too,  is  almost 
as  well  as  ever  in  his  health." 

"My  lord,"  replied  Varney,  "there  will  be  rubs  in  the 
smoothest  road,  specially  when  it  leads  up-hill.  Sussex's 
illness  was  to  us  a  god-send,  from  which  I  hoped  much.  He 
has  recovered,  indeed,  but  he  is  not  now  more  formidable  than 
ere  he  fell  ill,  when  he  received  more  than  one  foil  in  wrestling 
with  your  lordship.  Let  not  your  heart  fail  you,  my  lord,  and 
all  shall  be  well." 

"  My  heart  never  failed  me,  sir, "  replied  Leicester. 

"No,  my  lord,"  said  Varney;  "but  it  has  betrayed  you 
right  often.  He  that  would  climb  a  tree,  my  lord,  must  grasp 
by  the  branches,  not  by  the  blossom." 

"  Well — well — well!"  said  Leicester,  impatiently,  "I  imder- 
stand  thy  meaning.  My  heart  shall  neither  fail  me  nor  seduce 
me.  Have  my  retinue  in  order ;  see  that  their  array  be  so 
splendid  as  to  put  down  not  only  the  rude  companions  of  Rat- 
cliffe,  but  the  retainers  of  every  other  nobleman  and  courtier. 
Let  them  be  well  armed  withal,  but  without  any  outward  dis- 
play of  their  weapons,  wearing  them  as  if  more  for  fashion's 


204  WAVERLET  NOVELS. 

sake  than  for  use.     Do  thou  thyseK  keep  close  to  me,  I  maj 
have  business  for  you." 

The  preparations  of  Sussex  and  his  party  were  not  less 
anxious  than  those  of  Leicester. 

"  Thy  supplication,  impeaching  Varney  of  seduction, "  said 
the  earl  to  Tressilian,  "  is  by  this  time  in  the  Queen's  hand. 
I  have  sent  it  through  a  sure  channel.  Methinks  your  suit 
should  succeed,  being,  as  it  is,  founded  in  justice  and  honour,^ 
and  Elizabeth  being  the  very  muster  of  both.  But,  I  wot  not 
how,  the  gipsy  (so  Sussex  was  wont  to  call  his  rival,  on  account 
of  his  dark  complexion)  hath  much  to  say  with  her  in  these 
holyday  times  of  peace.  Were  war  at  the  gates,  I  should  be 
one  of  her  white  boys ;  but  soldiers,  like  their  bucklers  and 
Bilboa  blades,  get  out  of  fashion  in  peace  time,  and  satin 
sleeves  and  walking  rapiers  bear  the  bell.  Well,  we  must  be 
gay,  since  such  is  the  fashion.  Blount,  hast  thou  seen  our 
household  put  into  their  new  braveries?  But  thou  know'st  as 
little  of  these  toys  as  I  do ;  thou  wouldst  be  ready  enow  at  dis- 
posing a  stand  of  pikes." 

"  My  good  lord, "  answered  Blount,  "  Raleigh  hath  been  here, 
and  taken  that  charge  upon  him.  Your  train  will  glitter  like 
a  May  morning.  Marry,  the  cost  is  another  question.  One 
might  keep  an  hospital  of  old  soldiers  at  the  charge  of  ten 
modern  lackeys." 

"  We  must  not  count  cost  to-day,  Nicholas, "  said  the  earl  in 
reply.  "I  am  beholden  to  Ealeigh  for  his  care;  I  trust, 
though,  he  has  remembered  that  I  am  an  old  soldier,  and 
would  have  no  more  of  these  follies  than  needs  must. " 

"Nay,  I  understand  nought  about  it,"  said  Blount;  "but 
here  are  your  honourable  lordship's  brave  kinsmen  and  friends 
coming  in  by  scores  to  wait  upon  you  to  court,  where,  methinks, 
we  shall  bear  as  brave  a  front  as  Leicester,  let  him  ruffle  it  as 
he  win." 

"  Give  them  the  strictest  charges, "  said  Sussex,  "  that  they 
suffer  no  provocation  short  of  actual  violence  to  provoke  them 
into  quarrel :  they  have  hot  bloods,  and  I  would  not  give  Leices- 
ter the  advantage  over  me  by  any  imprudence  of  theirs." 


KENILWORTH.  205 

The  Earl  of  Sussex  ran  so  liastily  througli  these  directions, 
that  it  was  with  difficulty  Tressilian  at  length  found  opportu- 
nity to  express  his  siu-prise,  that  he  should  have  proceeded  so 
far  in  the  affair  of  Sir  Hugh  Robsart  as  to  lay  his  petition  at 
once  before  the  Queen.  "  It  was  the  opinion  of  the  young 
lady's  friends,"  he  said,  "that  Leicester's  sense  of  justice 
should  be  first  appealed  to,  as  the  offence  had  been  committed 
by  his  officer,  and  so  he  had  expressly  told  to  Sussex." 

"  This  could  have  been  done  without  applying  to  me, "  said 
Sussex,  somewhat  haughtily.  "  /,  at  least,  ought  not  to  have 
been  a  counsellor  when  the  object  was  a  humiliatmg  reference 
to  Leicester ;  and  I  am  surprised  that  you,  Tressilian,  a  maa 
of  hono^ir,  and  my  friend,  would  assume  such  a  mean  course. 
If  you  said  so,  I  certainly  understood  you  not  in  a  matter 
which  sounded  so  unlike  yourself." 

"  My  lord, "  said  Tressilian,  "  the  course  I  would  prefer,  for 
my  own  sake,  is  that  you  have  adopted ;  but  the  friends  of  this 
most  unhappy  lady " 

"  Oh,  the  friends — the  friends, "  said  Sussex,  interrupting 
him }  "  they  must  let  us  manage  this  cause  in  the  way  which 
seems  best.  This  is  the  time  and  the  hour  to  accumulate 
every  charge  against  Leicester  and  his  household,  and  yours 
the  Qufeen  will  hold  a  heavy  one.  But  at  all  events  she  hath 
the  complaint  before  her." 

Tressilian  coidd  not  help  suspecting  that,  in  his  eagerness  to 
strengthen  himself  against  his  rival,  Sussex  had  purposely 
adopted  the  course  most  likely  to  throw  odium  on  Leicester, 
without  considering  minutely  whether  it  were  the  mode  of  pro- 
ceedhig  most  likely  to  be  attended  with  success.  But  the  step 
was  irrevocable,  and  Sussex  escaped  from  farther  discussing 
it  by  dismissing  his  company  with  the  command :  "  Let  all  be 
in  order  at  eleven  o'clock;  I  must  be  at  court  and  in  the  pres- 
ence by  high  noon  precisely." 

"While  the  rival  statesmen  were  thus  anxiously  preparing  for 
their  approaching  meeting  in  the  Queen's  presence,  even  Eliza- 
beth herself  was  not  without  apprehension  of  what  might 
chance  from  the  collision  of  two  such  fiery  spirits,  each  backed 


206  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

by  a  strong  and  numerous  body  of  followers,  and  dividing  be- 
twixt them,  either  openly  or  in  secret,  the  hopes  and  wishes 
of  most  of  her  court.  The  band  of  gentlemen  pensioners  were 
all  under  arms,  and  a  reinforcement  of  the  yeomen  of  the 
guard  was  brought  down  the  Thames  from  London.  A  royal 
proclamation  was  sent  forth,  strictly  prohibiting  nobles,  of 
whatever  degree,  to  approach  the  palace  with  retainers  or  fol- 
lowers, armed  with  shot  or  with  long  weapons ;  and  it  was 
even  whispered  that  the  high  sheriff  of  Kent  had  secret  in- 
structions to  have  a  part  of  the  array  of  the  county  ready  on 
the  shortest  notice. 

The  eventful  hour,  thus  anxiously  prepared  for  on  all  sides, 
at  length  approached,  and,  each  followed  by  his  long  and  glit- 
tering train  of  friends  and  followers,  the  rival  earls  entered 
the  palace-yard  of  Greenwich  at  noon  precisely. 

As  if  by  previous  arrangement,  or  perhaps  by  intimation 
that  such  was  the  Queen's  pleasure,  Sussex  and  his  retinue 
came  to  the  palace  from  Deptford  by  water,  while  Leicester 
arrived  by  land;  and  thus  they  entered  the  courtyard  from 
opposite  sides.  This  trifling  circumstance  gave  Leicester  a 
certain  ascendency  in  the  opinion  of  the  vulgar,  the  appearance 
of  his  cavalcade  of  mounted  followers  showing  more  numerous 
and  more  imposing  than  those  of  Sussex's  party,  who  were 
necessarily  upon  foot.  No  show  or  sign  of  greeting  passed 
between  the  earls,  though  each  looked  full  at  the  other,  both 
expecting,  perhaps,  an  exchange  of  courtesies,  which  neither 
was  willing  to  commence.  Almost  in  the  minute  of  their 
arrival  the  castle  bell  tolled,  the  gates  of  the  palace  were 
opened,  and  the  earls  entered,  each  numerously  attended  by 
such  gentlemen  of  their  train  whose  rank  gave  them  that  privi- 
lege. The  yeomen  and  inferior  attendants  remained  in  the 
courtyard,  where  the  opposite  parties  eyed  each  other  with 
looks  of  eager  hatred  and  scorn,  as  if  waitmg  with  impatience 
for  some  cause  of  tumult,  or  some  apology  for  mutual  aggres- 
sion. But  they  were  restrained  by  the  strict  commands  of 
their  leaders,  and  overawed,  perhaps,  by  the  presence  of  an 
armed  guard  of  unusual  strength. 

In  the  mean  while,  the  more  distinguished  persons  of  each 


KENILWORTH.  207 

train  followed  their  patrons  into  the  lofty  halls  and  ante- 
chambers of  the  royal  palace,  flowing  on  in  the  same  current, 
like  two  streams  which  are  compelled  into  the  same  channel, 
yet  shun  to  mix  their  waters.  The  parties  arranged  them- 
selves, as  it  were  instinctively,  on  the  different  sides  of  the 
lofty  apartments,  and  seemed  eager  to  escape  from  the  tran- 
sient union  which  the  narrowness  of  the  crowded  entrance  had 
for  an  instant  compelled  them  to  submit  to.  The  folding-doors 
at  the  upper  end  of  the  long  gallery  were  immediately  after- 
wards opened,  and  it  was  announced  in  a  whisper  that  the 
Queen  was  in  her  presence-chamber,  to  which  these  gave  ac- 
cess. Both  earls  moved  slowly  and  stately  towards  the  en- 
trance— Sussex  followed  by  Tressilian,  Blount,  and  Raleigh, 
and  Leicester  by  Varney.  The  pride  of  Leicester  was  obliged 
to  give  way  to  court  forms,  and,  with  a  grave  and  formal  in- 
clination of  the  head,  he  paused  until  his  rival,  a  peer  of  older 
creation  than  his  own,  passed  before  him.  Sussex  returned 
the  reverence  with  the  same  formal  civility,  and  entered  the 
presence-room.  Tressilian  and  Blount  offered  to  follow  him, 
but  were  not  permitted,  the  Usher  of  the  Black  Rod  alleging 
in  excuse,  that  he  had  precise  orders  to  look  to  all  admissions 
that  day.  To  Raleigh,  who  stood  back  on  the  repulse  of  his 
companions,  he  said,  "  You,  sir,  may  enter, "  and  he  entered 
accordingly. 

"Follow  me  close,  Varney,"  said  the  Earl  of  Leicester,  who 
had  stood  aloof  for  a  moment  to  mark  the  reception  of  Sussex ; 
and,  advancing  to  the  entrance,  he  was  about  to  pass  on,  when 
Varney,  who  was  close  behind  him,  dressed  out  in  the  utmost 
bravery  of  the  day,  was  stopped  by  the  usher,  as  Tressilian 
and  Blount  had  been  before  him.  "How  is  this.  Master 
Bowyer?"  said  the  Earl  of  Leicester.  "  Know  you  who  I  am, 
and  that  this  is  my  friend  and  follower?" 

"  Your  lordship  will  pardon  me, "  replied  Bowyer  stoutly ;. 
"  my  orders  are  precise,  and  limit  me  to  a  strict  discharge  of 
my  duty." 

"  Thou  art  a  partial  knave, "  said  Leicester,  the  blood  mount- 
ing to  his  face,  "  to  do  me  this  dishonour,  when  you  but  now 
admitted  a  follower  of  my  Lord  of  Sussex." 


208  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

"jVIy  lord,"  said  Bowyer,  "Master  Ealeigh  is  neivly  ad- 
mitted a  sworn  servant  of  her  Grace,  and  to  him  my  orders 
did  not  apply." 

"  Thou  art  a  knave — an  ungrateful  knave, "  said  Leicester; 
"  hut  he  that  hath  done  can  undo :  thou  shalt  not  prank  thee 
in  thy  authority  long!" 

This  threat  he  uttered  aloud,  with  less  than  his  usual  policy 
and  discretion,  and  having  done  so,  he  entered  the  presence- 
chamber,  and  made  his  reverence  to  the  Queen,  who,  attired 
with  even  more  than  her  usual  splendour,  and  surrounded  by 
those  nobles  and  statesmen  whose  courage  and  wisdom  have 
rendered  her  reign  immortal,  stood  ready  to  receive  the  homage 
of  her  subjects.  She  graciously  returned  the  obeisance  of  the 
favourite  earl,  and  looked  alternately  at  him  and  at  Sussex, 
as  if  about  to  speak,  when  Bowyer,,  a  man  whose  spirit  could 
not  brook  the  insult  he  had  so  openly  received  from  Leicester, 
in  the  discharge  of  his  office,  advanced  with  his  black  rod  ia 
his  hand,  and  knelt  down  before  her. 

"Why,  how  now,  Bowyer?"  said  Elizabeth,  "thy  courtesy 
seems  strangely  timed!" 

"My  liege  sovereign,"  he  said,  while  every  courtier  around 
trembled  at  his  audacity,  "  I  come  but  to  ask  whether,  in  the 
discharge  of  mine  office,  I  am  to  obey  your  Highness' s  com- 
mands or  those  of  the  Earl  of  Leicester,"  who  has  publicly 
menaced  me  with  his  displeasure,  and  treated  me  with  dis- 
paraging terms,  because  I  denied  entry  to  one  of  his  followers, 
in  obedience  to  your  Grace's  precise  orders?" 

The  spirit  of  Henry  YIII.  was  instantly  aroused  in  the 
bosom,  of  his  daughter,  and  she  turned  on  Leicester  with  a 
severity  which  apx)alled  him,  as  well  as  all  his  followers. 

"God's  death!  my  lord,"  siich  was  her  emphatic  phrase, 
"  what  means  this?  We  have  thought  well  of  you,  and  brought 
you  near  to  our  person ;  but  it  was  not  that  you  might  hide 
the  Sim  from  our  other  faithful  subjects.  ^Vho  gave  you 
license  to  contradict  our  orders  or  control  our  officers?  I  will 
have  in  this  court,  ay,  and  in  this  realm,  but  one  mistress, 
and  no  master.  Look  to  it  that  Master  Bowyer  sustains  no 
harm  for  his  duty  to  me  faithfully  discharged;  for,  as  I  am 


KENILWORTH.  209 

Christian  woman  and  crowned  queen,  I  will  hold  you  dearly- 
answerable.  Go,  Bowyer,  you  have  done  the  part  of  an  hon- 
est man  and  a  true  subject.  We  will  brook  no  mayor  of  the 
palace  here." 

Bowyer  kissed  the  hand  which  she  extended  towards  him, 
and  withdrew  to  his  post,  astonished  at  the  success  of  his  own 
avidacity.  A  smile  of  triumph  pervaded  the  faction  of  Sussex ; 
that  of  Leicester  seemed  proportionally  dismayed,  and  the 
favourite  himself,  assuming  an  aspect  of  the  deepest  humility, 
did  not  even  attempt  a  word  in  his  own  exculpation. 

He  acted  wisely ;  for  it  was  the  policy  of  Elizabeth  to  hum- 
ble, not  to  disgrace  him,  and  it  was  prudent  to  suffer  her, 
without  opposition  or  reply,  to  glory  in  the  exertion  of  her 
authority.  The  dignity  of  the  Queen  was  gi*atified,  and  the 
woman  began  soon  to  feel  for  the  mortification  which  she  had 
imposed  on  her  favourite.  Her  keen  eye  also  observed  the 
secret  looks  of  congi-atulation  exchanged  a,mongst  those  who 
favoured  Sussex,  and  it  was  no  part  of  her  policy  to  give 
either  party  a  decisive  triumph. 

'MMiat  I  say  to  my  Lord  of  Leicester,"  she  said,  after  a 
moment's  pause,  "  I  say  also  to  you,  my  Lord  of  Sussex.  You 
also  must  needs  ruffle  in  the  court  of  England,  at  the  head  of 
a  faction  of  your  own?" 

"My  followers,  gracious  princess,"  said  Sussex,  "have  in- 
deed ruffled  in  your  cause  in  Ireland,  in  Scotland,  and  against 
yonder  rebellious  earls  in  the  north.     I  am  ignorant  that " 

"Do  you  bandy  looks  and  words  with  me,  my  lord?"  said 
the  Queen,  interrupting  him ;  "  methinks  you  might  learn  of 
my  Lord  of  Leicester  the  modesty  to  be  silent,  at  least,  under 
our  censure.  I  say,  my  lord,  that  my  grandfather  and  my 
father,  in  their  wisdom,  debarred  the  nobles  of  this  civilised 
land  from  travelling  with  such  disorderly  retinues ;  and  think 
you  that,  because  I  wear  a  coif,  their  sceptre  has  in  my  hand 
been  changed  into  a  distaff?  I  tell  you,  no  king  in  Christen- 
dom will  less  brook  his  court  to '  be  cumbered,  his  people  op- 
pressed, and  his  kingdom's  peace  disturbed,  by  the  arrogance 
of  overgrown  power,  than  she  who  now  speaks  with  yoii.  IMy 
Lord  of  Leicester,  and  you,  my  Lord  of  Sussex,  I  command 
14 


210  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

you  both  to  be  friends  witli  each,  other;  or,  by  the  crown  I 
"wear,  you  shall  find  an  enemy  who  will  be  too  strong  for  both, 
of  you!" 

*'  Madam, "  said  the  Earl  of  Leicester,  "  you,  who  are  your- 
self the  ^fountain  of  honour,  laaow  best  what  is  due  to  mine. 
I  place  "t  at  your  disposal,  and  only  say,  that  the  terms  oa 
which  I  have  stood  with  my  Lord  of  Sussex  have  not  been  of 
my  seeking ;  nor  had  he  cause  to  think  me  his  enemy  until  he 
had  done  me  gross  wrong." 

"  For  me,  madam, "  said  the  Earl  of  Sussex,  "  I  cannot  appeal 
from  your  sovereign  pleasure;  but  I  were  well  content  my 
Lord  of  Leicester  should  say  in  what  I  have,  as  he  terms  it, 
wronged  him,  since  my  tongue  never  spoke  the  word  that  I 
would  not  willingly  justify  either  on  foot  or  horseback." 

"  And  for  me, "  said  Leicester,  "  always  under  my  gracious 
sovereign's  pleasure,  my  hand  shall  be  as  ready  to  make  good 
my  words  as  that  of  any  man  who  ever  wrote  himself  Eat- 
cliffe." 

"  My  lords, "  said  the  Queen,  "  these  are  no  terms  for  this 
presence;  and  if  you  cannot  keep  your  temper,  we  will  find 
means  to  keep  both  that  and  you  close  enough.  Let  me  see 
you  join  hands,  my  lords,  and  forget  your  idle  animosities." 

The  two  rivals  looked  at  each  other  with  reluctant  eyes, 
each  unwilling  to  make  the  first  advance  to  execute  the 
Queen's  will. 

"  Sussex, "  said  Elizabeth,  "  I  entreat — Leicester,  I  command 
you." 

Yet,  so  were  her  words  accented,  that  the  entreaty  sounded 
like  command  and  the  command  like  entreaty.  They  remained 
still  and  stubborn,  until  she  raised  her  voice  to  a  height  which 
argued  at  once  impatience  and  absolute  command. 

"  Sir  Henry  Lee, "  she  said  to  an  officer  m  attendance,  "  have 
a  guard  in  present  readiness,  and  man  a  barge  instantly.  My 
Lords  of  Sussex  and  Leicester,  I  bid  you  once  more  to  join 
hands — and,  God's  death!  he  that  refuses  shall  taste  of  our 
Tower  fare  ere  he  see  our  face  again.  I  will  lower  your  proud 
hearts  ere  we  part,  and  that  I  promise,  on  the  word  of  a 
queen !" 


KENILWORTH.  211 

"  The  prison, "  said  Leicester,  "  might  be  borne,  but  to  lose 
your  Grace's  presence  were  to  lose  light  and  life  at  once. 
Here,  Sussex,  is  my  hand." 

"And  here,"  said  Sussex,  "is  mine  in  truth  and  honesty  j 
but " 

"Nay,  under  favour,  you  shall  add  no  more,"  said  the 
Queen.  "  Why,  this  is  as  it  should  be, "  she  added,  looking 
on  them  more  favourably,  "  and  when  you,  the  shepherds  of 
the  people,  unite  to  protect  them,  it  shall  be  well  with  the 
flock  we  rule  over.  For,  my  lords,  I  tell  you  plainly,  your 
follies  and  your  brawls  lead  to  strange  disorders  among  your 
servants.  My  Lord  of  Leicester,  you  have  a  gentleman  in 
your  household  called  Varney?" 

"Yes,  gracious  madam,"  replied  Leicester;  "I  presented 
him  to  kiss  your  royal  hand  when  you  were  last  at  Nonsuch." 

"  His  outside  was  well  enough, "  said  the  Queen,  "  but  scarce 
so  fair,  I  should  have  thought,  as  to  have  caused  a  maiden  of 
honourable  birth  and  hopes  to  barter  her  fame  for  his  good 
looks,  and  become  his  paramour.  Yet  so  it  is :  this  fellow  of 
yours  hath  seduced  the  daughter  of  a  good  old  Devonshire 
knight.  Sir  Hugh  Robsart  of  Lidcote  Hall,  and  she  hath  fled 
with  him  from  her  father's  house  like  a  castaway.  My  Lord 
of  Leicester,  are  you  ill,  that  you  look  so  deadly  pale?" 

"No,  gracious  madam,"  said  Leicester,  audit  required  every 
effort  he  could  make  to  bring  forth  these  few  words. 

"  You  are  surely  ill,  my  lord?"  said  Elizabeth,  going  towards 
him  with  hasty  speech  and  hurried  step,  which  indicated  the 
deepest  concern.  "  Call  Masters — call  our  surgeon  in  ordinary. 
Where  be  these  loitering  fools?  We  lose  the  pride  of  our 
court  through  their  negligence.  Or  is  it  j)ossible,  Leicester," 
she  continued,  looking  on  him  with  a  very  gentle  aspect — 
*'  can  fear  of  my  displeasure  have  wrought  so  deeply  on  thee? 
Doubt  not  for  a  moment,  noble  Dudley,  that  we  could  blame 
thee  for  the  folly  of  thy  retainer — thee,  whose  thoughts  we 
know  to  be  far  otherwise  employed!  He  that  would  climb 
the  eagle's  nest,  my  lord,  cares  not  who  are  catching  linnets  at 
the  foot  of  the  precipice." 

"Mark  you  that?"  said  Sussex,  aside  to  Kaleigh.     "The 


212  WAVEELEY  NO^^LS. 

devil  aids  liim  surely!  for  all  that  would  sink  another  ten 
fathom  deej)  seems  but  to  make  him  float  the  more  easily.. 
Had  a  follower  of  mine  acted  thus " 

"Peace,  my  good  lord,"  said  Ealeigh — "for  God's  sake, 
peace !  Wait  the  change  of  the  tide ;  it  is  even  now  on  the 
turn." 

The  acute  observation  of  Ealeigh,  perhaps,  did  not  deceive 
him;  for  Leicester's  confusion  was  so  great,  and,  indeed,  for 
the  moment,  so  irresistibly  overwhelmiiig,  that  Elizabeth, 
after  looking  at  him  with  a  wondering  eye,  and  receiving  no 
intelligible  answer  to  the  unusual  expressions  of  grace  and 
affection  which  had  escaped  from  her,  shot  her  quick  glance 
around  the  circle  of  courtiers,  and  reading,  perhaps,  in  their 
faces  something  that  accorded  with  her  ot\ti  awakened  suspi- 
cions, she  said  suddenly :  "  Or  is  there  more  in  this  than  w^e  see, 
or  than  you,  my  lord,  wish  that  we  should  see?  Where  is 
this  Yarney?     "Who  saw  him?" 

"  An  it  please  your  Grace, "  said  Bowyer,  "  it  is  the  same 
against  whom  I  this  instant  closed  the  door  of  the  presence- 
room." 

"  An  it  please  me!"  repeated  Elizabeth,  sharply,  not  at  that 
moment  in  the  humour  of  being  pleased  with  anything.  "  It 
does  not  please  me  that  he  should  pass  saucily  into  my  pres- 
ence, or  that  you  should  exclude  fi-om  it  one  who  came  to 
justify  himseK  from  an  accusation." 

"May  it  please  you,"  answered  the  perplexed  usher,  "if  I 
knew,  in  such  case,  how  to  bear  myself,  I  would  take  heed " 

"You  should  have  reported  the  fellow's  desire  to  us.  Mas- 
ter Usher,  and  taken  our  directions.  You  think  yoiu-self  a 
great  man,  because  but  now  we  chid  a  nobleman  on  your  ac- 
count; yet,  after  all,  we  hold  you  but  as  the  lead- weight  that 
keeps  the  door  fast.  Call  this  Yarney  hither  instantly ;  there 
is  one  Tressilian  also  mentioned  in  this  petition;  let  them 
both  come  before  u.s." 

She  was  obeyed,  and  Tressilian  and  Yarney  appeared  ac- 
cordingly. Yarney 's  first  glance  was  at  Leicester,  his  second 
at  the  Queen.  In  the  looks  of  the  latter  there  appeared  an 
appi-oaching  storm,  and  in  the  downcast  countenance  of  his 


KENILWORTH.  213 

patron  he  could  read  no  directions  in  what  way  he  was  to  trim 
his  vessel  for  the  encounter ;  he  then  saw  Tressilian,  and  at 
once  perceived  the  peril  of  the  situation  in  which  he  was 
placed.  But  Yarney  was  as  bold-faced  and  ready-witted  as 
he  was  cunning  and  unscrupulous — a  skilful  pilot  in  extremity, 
and  fully  conscious  of  the  advantages  which  he  would  obtain, 
could  he  extricate  Leicester  from  his  present  peril,  and  of 
the  ruin  that  yawned  for  himseK  should  he  fail  in  doing  so. 

"Is  it  true,  sirrah,"  said  the  Queen,  with  one  of  those 
searchmg  looks  which  few  had  the  audacity  to  resist,  "  that 
you  have  seduced  to  infamy  a'young  lady  of  birth  and  breed- 
ing, the  daughter  of  Sir  Hugh  Bobsart  of  Lidcote  Hall?" 

Yarney  kneeled  down,  and  replied,  with  a  look  of  the  most 
profound  contrition :  "  There  had  been  some  love  passages 
betwixt  him  and  Mistress  Amy  Eobsart." 

Leicester's  flesh  quivered  with  indignation  as  he  heard  his 
dependant  make  this  avowal,  and  for  one  moment  he  mamied 
himself  to  step  forward,  and,  bidding  farewell  to  the  court  and 
the  royal  favour,  confess  the  whole  mystery  of  the  secret  mar- 
riage. But  he  looked  at  Sussex,  and  the  idea  of  the  tri- 
umphant smile  which  would  clothe  his  cheek  upon  hearing  the 
avowal  sealed  his  lips.  "  Xot  now,  at  least, "  he  thought,  "  or 
in  this  presence,  will  I  afford  him  so  rich  a  triumph."  And 
pressing  his  lips  close  together,  he  stood  firm  and  collected, 
attentive  to  each  word  which  Yarney  uttered,  and  determined 
to  hide  to  the  last  the  secret  on  which  his  couj't  favour  seemed 
to  depend.  Meanwhile,  the  Queen  proceeded  in  her  examina- 
tion of  Yarney. 

"Love  passages!"  said  she,  echoing  his  last  words;  "what 
passages,  thou  knave?  and  why  not  ask  the  wench's  hand  from 
her  father,  if  thou  hadst  any  honesty  in  thy  love  for  her?" 

"  An  it  please  your  Grace, "  said  Yarney,  still  on  his  knees, 
"  I  dared  not  do  so,  for  her  father  had  promised  her  hand  to 
a  gentleman  of  birth  and  honour — I  will  do  him  justice,  though 
I  know  he  beai-s  me  ill-will — one  Master  Edmund  Tressilian, 
whom  I  now  see  in  the  presence. " 

"Soh!"  replied  the  Queen;  "and  what  was  yoiu*  right  to 
make  the   simple  fool  break   her   wortliy  father^  s   contract. 


214  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

through  your  love  passar/es,  as  your  conceit  and  assurance 
terms  them?" 

'^  Madam, "  replied  Varney,  "  it  is  in  vain  to  plead  the  cause 
of  human  frailty  before  a  judge  to  whom  it  is  unknown,  or 

that  of  love  to  one  who  never  yields  to  the  passion "  he 

paused  an  instant,  and  then  added  in  a  very  low  and  timid 
tone — "which  she  inflicts  upon  all  others." 

Elizabeth  tried  to  frown,  but  smiled  in  her  own  despite,  as 
she  answered :  "  Thou  art  a  marvellously  impudent  knave. 
Art  thou  married  to  the  girl?" 

Leicester's  feelings  became  so  complicated  and  so  painfully 
intense,  that  it  seemed  to  him  as  if  his  life  was  to  depend  on 
the  answer  made  by  Varney,  who,  after  a  moment's  real  hesi- 
tation, answered:    "Yes." 

"Thou  false  villain!"  said  Leicester,  bursting  forth  into 
xage,  yet  unable  to  add  another  word  to  the  sentence,  which 
he  had  begun  with  such  emphatic  passion. 

"  Nay,  my  lord, "  said  the  Queen,  "  we  will,  by  your  leave, 
stand  between  this  fellow  and  your  anger.  We  have  not  yet 
done  with  him.  Knew  your  master,  my  Lord  of  Leicester, 
of  this  fair  work  of  yours?  Speak  truth,  I  command  thee, 
and  I  will  be  thy  warrant  from  danger  on  every  quarter. " 

"  Gracious  madam, "  said  Varney,  "  to  speak  Heaven's  truth, 
my  lord  was  the  cause  of  the  whole  matter." 

"  Thou  villain,  wouldst  thou  betray  me?"  said  Leicester. 

"  Speak  on, "  said  the  Queen,  hastily,  her  cheek  colouring 
and  her  eyes  sparkling  as  she  addressed  Varney — "  speak  on ; 
here  no  commands  are  heard  but  mine." 

"  They  are  omnipotent,  gracious  madam, "  replied  Varney ; 
^'and  to  you  there  can  be  no  secrets.  Yet  I  would  not,"  he 
added,  looking  around  him,  "  speak  of  my  master's  concerns 
to  other  ears." 

"  Fall  back,  my  lords, "  said  the  Queen  to  those  who  sur- 
rounded her,  "  and  do  you  speak  on.  What  hath  the  earl  to 
do  with  this  guilty  intrigue  of  thine?  See,  fellow,  that  thou 
beliest  him  not!" 

"  Far  be  it  from  me  to  traduce  my  noble  patron, "  replied 
Varney ;  "  yet  I  am  compelled  to  own  that  some  deep,  over- 


KENILWORTH.  215 

wlielmmg,  yet  secret  feeling  hath  of  late  dwelt  in  my  lord's 
mind,  hath  abstracted  him  from  the  cares  of  the  household, 
which  he  was  wont  to  govern  with  such  religious  strictness, 
and  hath  left  us  opportunities  to  do  follies,  of  which  the 
shame,  as  in  this  case,  partly  falls  upon  our  patron.  With- 
out this,  I  had  not  had  means  or  leisure  to  commit  the  folly 
which  has  drawn  on  me  his  displeasure,  the  heaviest  to  endure 
by  me  which  I  could  by  any  means  incur — saving  always  the 
yet  more  dreaded  resentment  of  your  Grace." 

"  And  in  this  sense,  and  no  other,  hath  he  been  accessary  to 
thy  fault?"  said  Elizabeth. 

"  Surely,  madam,  in  no  other, "  replied  Varney ;  "  but,  since 
somewhat  hath  chanced  to  him,  he  can  scarce  be  called  his 
own  man.  Look  at  him,  madam,  how  pale  and  trembling  he 
stands — how  unlike  his  usual  majesty  of  manner;  yet  what 
has  he  to  fear  from  aught  I  can  say  to  your  Highness?  Ah  I 
madam,  since  he  received  that  fatal  packet!" 

"What  packet,  and  from  whence?"  said  the  Queen,  eagerly. 

"  From  whence,  madam,  I  cannot  guess ;  but  I  am  so  near 
to  his  person  that  I  know  he  has  ever  since  worn,  suspended 
around  his  neck  and  next  to  his  heart,  that  lock  of  hair  which 
sustains  a  small  golden  jewel  shaped  like  a  heart.  He  speaks 
to  it  when  alone ;  he  parts  not  from  it  when  he  sleeps.  Xo 
heathen  ever  worshipped  an  idol  with  such  devotion." 

"Thou  art  a  prying  knave  to  watch  thy  master  so  closely," 
said  Elizabeth,  blushing,  but  not  with  anger ;  "  and  a  tattling 
knave  to  tell  over  again  his  fooleries.  What  colour  might  the 
braid  of  hair  be  that  thou  pratest  of?" 

Varney  replied:  "A  poet,  madam,  might  call  it  a  thread 
from  the  golden  web  wrought  by  IMinerva;  but,  to  my  think- 
ing, it  was  paler  than  even  the  purest  gold — more  like  the  last 
parting  sunbeam  of  the  softest  day  of  spring. " ' 

"  Why,  you  are  a  poet  yourself,  ]\Iaster  Varney, "  said  the 
Queen,  smiling;  "but  I  have  not  genius  quick  enough  to  follow 
your  rare  metaphors.  Look  round  these  ladies — is  there  (she 
hesitated,  and  endeavoured  to  assume  an  air  of  great  indiffer- 
ence)—  is  there  here,  in  this  presence,  any  lady,  the  colour  of 
whose  hair  reminds  thee  of  that  braid?     Methinks,  without 


216  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

prying  into  my  Lord  of  Leicester's  amorous  secrets,  I  would 
fain  know  what  kind  of  locks  are  like  the  thread  of  Minerva's 
web,  or  the — what  was  it? — the  last  rays  of  the  May-day  sun." 

Yarney  looked  round  the  presence-chamber,  his  eye  travel- 
ling from  one  lady  to  another,  until  at  length  it  rested  upon 
the  Queen  herself,  but  with  an  aspect  of  the  deepest  venera- 
tion, "  I  see  no  tresses, "  he  said,  *'  in  this  presence,  worthy 
of  such  similes,  unless  where  I  dare  not  look  on  them." 

"  How,  sir  knave, "  said  the  Queen,  "  dare  you  intimate " 

"  Xay,  madam, "  replied  Varney,  shading  his  eyes  with  his 
hand,  "  it  was  the  beams  of  the  May-day  sun  that  dazzled  my 
weak  eyes." 

*'  Go  to — go  to, "  said  the  Queen,  "  thou  art  a  foolish  fellow, " 
and  turning  quickly  from  him,  she  walked  up  to  Leicester. 

Intense  curiosity,  mingled  with  all  the  various  hopes,  fears, 
and  passions  which  influence  court  faction,  had  occupied  the 
presence-chamber  during  the  Queen's  conference  with  Yarney, 
as  if  with  the  strength  of  an  Eastern  talisman.  Men  sus- 
pended every,  even  the  slightest,  external  motion,  and  would 
have  ceased  to  breathe,  had  nature  permitted  such  an  inter- 
mission of  her  functions.  The  atmosphere  was  contagious, 
and  Leicester,  who  saw  all  around  wishing  or  fearing  his  ad- 
vancement or  his  fall,  forgot  all  that  love  had  previously 
dictated,  and  saw  nothing  for  the  uistant  but  the  favour  or 
disgrace  which  depended  on  the  nod  of  Elizabeth  and  the 
fidelity  of  Yarney.  He  summoned  himself  hastily,  and  pre- 
pared to  play  his  part  in  the  scene  which  was  like  to  ensue, 
when,  as  he  judged  from  the  glances  which  the  Queen  threw 
towards  him,  Yarney's  communications,  be  they  what  they 
might,  were  operating  in  his  favour.  Elizabeth  did  not  long 
leave  him  in  doubt ;  for  the  more  than  favour  with  which  she 
accosted  him  decided  his  triumph  in  the  eyes  of  his  rival,  and 
of  the  assembled  court  of  England.  "  Thou  hast  a  prating 
servant  of  this  same  Yarney,  my  lord, "  she  said ;  "  it  is  lucky 
you  trust  him  with  nothing  that  can  hurt  you  in  our  opinion, 
for,  believe  me,  he  would  keep  no  comisel. " 

"  From  your  Highness, "  said  Leicester,  dropping  gracefully 
on  one  knee,  "  it  were  treason  he  should.     I  would  that  my 


EENILWORTH.  21f 

heart  itself  lay  before  you,  barer  than  the  tongue  of  auy  ser- 
vant could  strip  it." 

"  What,  my  lord, "  said  Elizabeth,  looking  kindly  upon  him, 
"  is  there  no  one  little  corner  over  which  you  would  wish  to 
spread  a  veil?  Ah!  I  see  you  are  confused  at  the  question, 
and  your  Queen  knows  she  should  not  look  too  deeply  into  her 
servants'  motives  for  their  faithful  duty,  lest  she  see  what 
might,  or  at  least  ought  to,  displease  her." 

Eelieved  by  these  last  words,  Leicester  broke  out  into  a 
torrent  of  expressions  of  deep  and  passionate  attachment, 
which  perhaps,  at  that  moment,  were  not  altogether  fictitious. 
The  mingled  emotions  which  had  at  first  overcome  him,  had 
now  given  way  to  the  energetic  vigour  with  which  he  had  de- 
termined to  support  his  place  in  the  Queen's  favou?" ;  and  never 
did  he  seem  to  Elizabeth  more  eloquent,  more  handsome,  more 
interesting,  than  while,  kneeling  at  her  feet,  he  conjured  her 
to  strip  him  of  all  his  power,  but  to  leave  him  the  name  of  her 
servant.  "  Take  from  the  poor  Dudley, "  he  exclaimed,  "  all 
that  your  bounty  has  made  him,  and  bid  him  be  the  poor  gen- 
tleman he  was  when  your  Grace  first  shone  on  him ;  leave  him 
no  more  than  his  cloak  and  his  sword,  but  let  him  still  boast 
he  has — what  in  word  or  deed  he  never  forfeited — the  regard 
of  his  adored  Queen  and  mistress !" 

"No,  Dudley!"  said  Elizabeth,  raising  him  with  one  hand, 
while  she  extended  the  other  that  he  might  kiss  it ;  "  Eliza- 
beth hath  not  forgotten  that,  whilst  you  were  a  poor  gentle- 
man, despoiled  of  your  hereditary  rank,  she  was  as  jwor  a 
princess,  and  that  in  her  cause  you  then  ventured  all  that  op- 
pression had  left  you — your  life  and  honour.  Eise,  my  lord, 
and  let  my  hand  go.  Eise,  and  be  what  jau.  have  ever  been, 
the  grace  of  our  court  and  the  support  of  our  throne.  Your 
mistress  may  be  forced  to  chide  your  misdemeanours,  but 
never  without  ownmg  your  merits.  And  so  help  me  God," 
she  added,  turning  to  the  audience,  who,  with  various  feelings, 
witnessed  this  interesting  scene — "  so  help  me  God,  gentlemen, 
as  I  think  never  sovereign  had  a  truer  servant  than  I  have  irt 
this  noble  eavl!" 

A   murmur   of   assent  rose   from  the  Leicestrian  factioiiy 


iJ18  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

vhicli  tlie  friends  of  Sussex  dared  not  oppose.  They  remained 
with  their  eyes  fixed  ou  the  ground,  dismayed  as  well  as  morti- 
fied by  the  public  and  absolute  triumph  of  ^their  opponents. 
Leicester's  first  use  of  the  familiarity  to  which  the  Queen  had 
so  publicly  restored  him  was  to  ask  her  commands  concerning 
Varney's  offence.  "  Although, "  he  said,  "  the  fellow  deserves 
nothing  from  me  but  displeasure,  jet,  might  I  presume  to 
Intercede " 

"  In  truth,  we  had  forgotten  his  matter, "  said  the  Queen ; 
"and  it  was  ill  done  of  us,  who  owe  justice  to  our  meanest  as 
well  as  to  our  highest  subject.  We  are  pleased,  my  lord, 
that  you  were  the  first  to  recall  the  matter  to  our  memory. 
Where  is  Tressilian,  the  accuser?  let  him  come  before  us." 

Tressilian  appeared,  and  made  a  low  and  beseeming  reve- 
rence. His  person,  as  we  have  elsewhere  observed,  had  an 
air  of  grace,  and  even  of  nobleness,  which  did  not  escape 
Queen  Elizabeth's  critical  observation.  She  looked  at  him 
with  attention,  as  he  stood  before  her  imabashed,  but  with  an 
air  of  the  deepest  dejection. 

"I  cannot  but  grieve  for  this  gentleman,"  she  said  to 
Leicester.  "  I  have  inquired  concerning  him,  and  his  presence 
confirms  what  I  heard,  that  he  is  a  scholar  and  a  soldier,  weE 
accomplished  both  in  arts  and  arms.  We  women,  my  lord, 
are  fanciful  in  our  choice :  I  had  said  now,  to  judge  by  the 
eye,  there  was  no  comparison  to  be  held  betwixt  your  follower 
and  this  gentleman.  But  Varney  is  a  well-spoken  fellow,  and, 
to  speak  truth,  that  goes  far  with  us  of  the  weaker  sex.  Look 
you,  Master  Tressilian,  a  bolt  lost  is  not  a  bow  broken.  Your 
true  affection,  as  I  will  hold  it  to  be,  hath  been,  it  seems,  but 
ill  requited;  but  you  have  scholarship,  and  you  know  there 
have  been  false  Cressidas  to  be  found,  from  the  Trojan  war 
downwards.  Forget,  good  sir,  this  lady  light  o'  love ;  teach 
your  affection  to  see  with  a  wiser  eye.  This  we  say  to  you 
more  from  the  writings  of  learned  men  than  our  own  knowl- 
edge, being,  as  we  are,  far  removed  by  station  and  will  from 
the  enlargement  of  experience  in  such  idle  toys  of  humorous 
passion.  For  this  dame's  father,  we  can  make  his  grief  the 
less  by  advancing  his  son-in-law  to  such  station  as  may  enable 


KENILWORTH.  219 

him  to  give  an  honourable  support  to  his  bride.  Thou  shalt 
not  be  forgotten  thyself,  Tressilian;  follow  our  court,  and 
thou  shalt  see  that  a  true  Troilus  hath  some  claim  on  our 
grace.  Think  of  what  that  arch-knave  Shakspeare  says — a 
plague  on  him,  his  toys  come  into  my  head  when  I  should 
think  of  other  matters!     Stay,  how  goes  it? — 

Cressid  was  yours,  tied  with  the  bonds  of  heaven  ; 
These  bonds  of  heaven  are  split,  dissolved,  and  loosed, 
And  with  another  knot  five  fingers  tied, 
The  fragments  of  her  faith  are  bound  to  Diomed. 

You  smile,  my  Lord  of  Southampton!  Perchance  I  make 
your 'player's  verse  halt  through  my  bad  memory;  but  let  it 
suffice :  let  there  be  no  more  of  this  mad  matter." 

And  as  Tressilian  kept  the  posture  of  one  who  would  will- 
ingly be  heard,  though,  at  the  same  time,  expressive  of  the 
deepest  reverence,  the  Queen  added  with  some  impatience: 
"What  would  the  man  have?  The  wench  cannot  wed  both  of 
you?  She  has  made  her  election — not  a  wise  one  perchance, 
but  she  is  Varney's  wedded  wife." 

"  My  suit  should  sleep  there,  most  gracious  sovereign, "  said 
Tressilian,  "  and  with  my  suit  my  revenge.  But  I  hold  this 
Varney's  word  no  good  warrant  for  the  truth." 

"  Had  that  doubt  been  elsewhere  urged, "  answered  Vamey, 
"my  sword " 

^^  Thy  sword!"  interrupted  Tressilian,  scornfully;  "with 
her  Grace's  leave,  my  sword  shall  show " 

"Peace,  you  knaves — both!"  said  the  Queen;  "know  you 
where  you  are?  This  comes  of  your  feuds,  my  lords,"  she 
added,  looking  towards  Leicester  and  Sussex :  "  your  followers 
catch  your  own  humour,  and  must  bandy  and  brawl  in  my 
court,  and  in  my  very  presence,  like  so  many  Matamoros. 
Look  you,  sirs,  he  that  speaks  of  drawing  swords  in  any  other 
quarrel  than  mine  or  England's,  by  mine  honour,  I'll  bracelet 
him  with  iron  both  on  wrist  and  ankle!"  She  then  paused  a 
minute,  and  resumed  in  a  milder  tone :  "  I  must  do  justice  be- 
twixt the  bold  and  mutinous  knaves  notwithstanding.  My 
Lord  of  Leicester,  will  you  warrant  with  your  honour — that  is. 


220  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

to  the  best  of  your  belief — that  your  servant  speaks  truth  in 
sayiiig  he  hath  married  this  Auiy  Robsart?" 

This  was  a  home-thrust,  and  had  nearly  staggered  Leicester. 
But  he  had  now  gone  too  far  to  recede,  and  answered,  after  a, 
moment's  hesitation:  ''To  the  best  of  my  belief — indeed,  on 
my  certain  knowledge — she  is  a  wedded  wife." 

"  Gracious  madam,"  said  Tressilian,  "may  I  yet  request  to 
know  when,  and  under  what  circumstances,  this  alleged  mar- 
riage  " 

"  Out,  sii-rah, "  answered  the  Queen — "  alleged  marriage ! 
Have  you  not  the  Avord  of  this  illustrious  earl  to  warrant 
the  truth  of  what  his  servant  says?  But  thou  art  a  loser — 
think' st  thyself  such  at  least — and  thou  shalt  have  indulgence  j 
we  will  look  into  the  ma^tter  ourself  more  at  leisure.  My 
Lord  of  Leicester,  I  trust  you  remember  we  mean  to  taste  the 
good  cheer  of  your  Castle  of  Kenilworth  on  this  week  ensuing ; 
we  will  pxay  jou  to  bid  our  good  and  valued  friend  the  Earl 
of  Sussex  to  hold  company  with  us  there. " 

"  If  the  noble  Earl  of  Sussex, "  said  Leicester,  bowing  to  his 
rival  with  the  easiest  and  with  the  most  graceful  courtesy, 
^'  will  so  far  honour  my  poor  house,  I  will  hold  it  an  additional 
proof  of  the  amicable  regard  it  is  your  Grace's  desire  we  should 
entertain  towards  each  other." 

Sussex  was  more  embarrassed.  "  I  shonld, "  said  he,  "  mad- 
am, be  but  a  clog  on  your  gayer  hours,  since  my  late  severe 
illness." 

"And  have  you  been  indeed  so  very  ill?"  said  Elizabeth, 
looking  on  him  with  more  attention  than  before ;  "  you  are  in 
faith  strangely  altered,  and  deeply  am  I  grieved  to  see  it.  But 
be  of  good  cheer;  we  will  ourselves  look  after  the  health  of 
so  valued  a  servant,  and  to  whom  we  owe  so  much.  Masters 
shall  order  your  diet;  and  that  we  ourselves  may  see  that  he 
is  obeyed,  you  must  attend  us  in  this  progress  to  Kenilworth." 

This  was  said  so  peremptorily,  and  at  the  same  time  with 
so  much  kindness,  that  Sussex,  however  unwilling  to  become 
the  guest  of  his  rival,  had  no  resource  but  to  bow  low  to  the 
Queen  in  obedience  to  her  commands,  and  to  express  to  Leices- 
ter,  with   blunt   courtesy,   though  mingled  with   embarrass- 


ZENILWORTH.  221 

ment,  his  acceptance  of  liis  invitation.  As  the  earls  exchanged 
compliments  on  the  occasion,  the  Queen  said  to  her  high 
treasurer :  "  Methiuks,  my  lord,  the  count-enances  of  these  our 
two  noble  peers  resemble  those  of  the  two  famed  classic 
streams,  the  one  so  dark  and  sad,  the  other  so  fair  and  noble. 
My  old  Master  Ascham  would  have  chid  me  for  forgetting  the 
author.  It  is  Csesar,  as  I  think.  See  what  majestic  calmness 
sits  on  the  brow  of  the  noble  Leicester,  while  Sussex  seems  to 
greet  him  as  if  he  did  our  will  indeed,  but  not  willingly. " 

"The  doubt  of  your  Majesty's  favour,"  answered  the  lord 
treasurer,  "  may  perchance  occasion  the  difference,  which  does 
not — as  what  does? — escape  your  Grace's  eye." 

"Such  doubt  were  injurious  to  us,  my  lord,'-'  replied  the 
Queen.  "  We  hold  both  to  be  near  and  dear  to  us,  and  will 
■with  impartiality  employ  both  in  honourable  service  for  the 
weal  of  our  kingdom.  But  we  will  break  their  farther  confer- 
ence at  present.  My  Lords  of  Sussex  and  Leicester,  we  have 
a  word  more  with  you.  Tressilian  and  Yarney  are  near  your 
persons;  you  will  see  that  they  attend  you  at  Kenilworth. 
And  as  we  shall  then  have  both  Paris  and  Menelaus  withiu 
our  call,  so  we  will  have  the  same  fair  Helen  also  whose  fickle- 
ness has  caused  this  broil.  Yarney,  thy  wife  must  be  at  Ken- 
ilworth, and  forthcoming  at  my  order.  My  Lord  of  Leices- 
ter, we  expect  you  will  look  to  this." 

The  earl  and  his  follower  bowed  low,  and  raised  their  heads, 
without  daring  to  look  at  the  Queen  or  at  each  other ;  for  both 
felt  at  the  instant  as  if  the  nets  and  toils  which  their  own 
falsehood  had  woven  were  in  the  act  of  closing  around  them. 
The  Queen,  however,  observed  not  their  confusion,  but  pro- 
ceeded to  say :  "  My  Lords  of  Sussex  and  Leicester,  we  require 
your  presence  at  the  privy  council  to  be  presently  held,  where 
matters  of  importance  are  to  l^e  debated.  We  will  then  take 
the  Avater  for  our  divertisement,  and  you,  my  lords,  will  attend 
us.  And  that  remmds  us  of  a  circumstance.  Do  you.  Sir 
Squire  of  the  Soiled  Cassock  (distinguishing  Raleigh  by  a 
smile),  fail  not  to  observe  that  you  are  to  attend  us  on  our 
progress.  You  shall  be  supplied  with  suitable  means  to  re- 
form your  wardrobe." 


222  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

And  so  terminated  this  celebrated  audience,  in  which,  as 
throughout  her  life,  Elizabeth  united  the  occasional  caprice 
of  her  sex  with  that  sense  and  sound  policy  in  which  neither 
man  nor  woman  ever  excelled  her. 


CHAPTER   XVII. 

Well,  then — our  course  is  chosen,  spread  the  sail, 
Heave  oft  the  lead  and  mark  the  soundings  well, 
Look  to  the  helm,  good  master  ;  many  a  shoal 
Marks  this  stern  coast,  and  rocks,  where  sits  the  Siren, 
Who,  like  ambition,  lures  men  to  their  ruin. 

The  Shipwreck. 

During  the  brief  interval  that  took  place  betwixt  the  dis- 
missal of  the  audience  and  the  sitting  of  the  privy  council, 
Leicester  had  time  to  reflect  that  he  had  that  morning  sealed 
his  own  fate.  "  It  was  impossible  for  him  now, "  he  thought, 
"  after  having,  in  the  face  of  all  that  was  honourable  in  Eng- 
land, pledged  his  truth  (though  in  an  ambiguous  phrase)  for 
the  statement  of  Varney,  to  contradict  or  disavow  it  without 
exposing  himself  not  merely  to  the  loss  of  court  favour,  but  to 
the  highest  displeasure  of  the  Queen,  his  deceived  mistress, 
and  to  the  scorn  and  contempt  at  once  of  his  rival  and  of  all 
his  compeers."  This  certainty  rushed  at  once  on  his  mind, 
together  with  all  the  difficulties  which  he  would  necessarily 
be  exposed  to  in  preserving  a  secret  which  seemed  now  equally 
essential  to  his  safety,  to  his  power,  and  to  his  honour.  He 
was  situated  like  one  who  walks  upon  ice,  ready  to  give  way 
aroim^d  him,  and  whose  only  safety  consists  in  moving  onwards 
by  firm  and  unvacillating  steps.  The  Queen's  favour,  to 
preserve  which  he  had  made  such  sacrifices,  must  now  be  se- 
cured by  all  means  and  at  all  hazards :  it  was  the  only  plank 
which  he  could  cling  to  in  the  tempest.  He  must  settle  him- 
self, therefore,  to  the  task  of  not  only  preserving,  but  aug- 
menting, the  Queen's  partiality.  He  must  be  the  favourite 
of  Elizabeth,  or  a  man  utterly  shipwrecked  in  fortune  and  in 
honour.  All  other  considerations  must  be  laid  aside  for  the 
moment,  and  he  repelled  the  intrusive  thoughts  which  forced 


KENILWORTH.  223 

on  his  mind  tlie  image  of  Amy,  by  saying  to  himself,  there 
"would  be  time  to  think  hereafter  how  he  was  to  escape  from 
the  labyrinth  ultimately,  since  the  pilot  who  sees  a  ScyUa 
under  his  bows  must  not  for  the  time  think  of  the  more  dis- 
tant dangers  of  Charybdis. 

In  this  mood,  the  Earl  of  Leicester  that  day  assumed  his 
chair  at  the  council-table  of  Elizabeth ;  and  when  the  hours  of 
business  were  over,  in  this  same  mood  did  he  occupy  an  hon- 
oured place  near  her  during  her  pleasure-excursion  on  the 
Thames.  And  never  did  he  display  to  more  advantage  his 
powers  as  a  politician  of  the  first  rank,  or  his  parts  as  au 
accomplished  courtier. 

It  chanced  that  in  that  day's  council  matters  were  agitated 
touching  the  affairs  of  the  unfortunate  Mary,  the  seventh  year 
of  whose  captivity  in  England  was  now  in  doleful  currency. 
There  had  been  opinions  in  favour  of  this  imhappy  princess 
laid  before  Elizabeth's  council,  and  supported  with  much 
strength  of  argument  by  Sussex  and  others,  who  dwelt  more 
upon  the  law  of  nations  and  the  breach  of  hospitality  than, 
however  softened  or  qualified,  was  agreeable  to  the  Queen's 
ear.  Leicester  adopted  the  contrary  opinion  with  great  ani- 
mation and  eloquence,  and  described  the  necessity  of  continu- 
ing the  severe  restraint  of  the  Queen  of  Scots,  as  a  measure, 
essential  to  the  safety  of  the  kingdom,  and  particularly  of 
Elizabeth's  sacred  person,  the  lightest  hair  of  whose  head,  he 
maintained,  ought,  in  their  lordships'  estimation,  to  be  matter 
of  more  deep  and  anxious  concern  than  the  life  and  fortimes  of 
a  rival,  who,  after  setting  up  a  vain  and  mijust  pretence  to  the 
throne  of  England,  was  now,  even  while  in  the  bosom  of  her 
comitry,  the  constant  hope  and  theme  of  encouragement  to  all 
enemies  to  Elizabeth,  whether  at  home  or  abroad.  ,  He  ended 
by  craving  pardon  of  their  lordships  if,  in  the  zeal  of  speech, 
he  had  given  any  offence,  but  the  Queen's  safety  was  a  theme 
which  hurried  him  beyond  his  usual  moderation  of  debate. 

Elizabeth  chid  him,  but  not  severely,  for  the  weight  which 
he  attached  unduly  to  her  personal  interests ;  yet  she  owned 
that,  since  it  had  been  the  pleasure  of  Heaven  to  combine 
those  interests  with  the  weal  of  her  subjects,  she  did  only  her 


224  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

duty  wlien  she  adopted  sucli  measures  of  self-preservation  as 
circumstances  forced  upon  her;  and  if  the  council  in  their 
wisdom  should  be  of  opinion  that  it  was  needful  to  continue 
some  restraint  on  the  person  of  her  unhappy  sister  of  Scotland, 
she  trusted  they  would  not  blame  her  if  she  requested  of  the 
Comitess  of  Shrewsbury  to  use  her  with  as  much  kindness  as 
might  be  consistent  with  her  safe  keeping.  And  with  this 
intimation  of  her  pleasure,  the  council  was  dismissed. 

Never  was  more  anxious  and  ready  way  made  for  "  my  Lord 
of  Leicester"  than  as  he  passed  through  the  crowded  ante- 
rooms to  go  towards  the  river-side,  in  order  to  attend  her 
Majesty  to  her  barge;  never  was  the  voice  of  the  ushers 
louder,  to  "Make  room — make  room  for  the  noble  earl"; 
never  were  the^  signals  more  promptly  and  reverently  obeyed; 
never  were  more  anxious  eyes  turned  on  him  to  obtain  a  glance 
of  favour,  or  even  of  mere  recognition,  while  the  heart  of  many 
a  humble  follower  throbbed  betwixt  the  desire  to  offer  his  con- 
gratulations and  the  fear  of  intruding  himself  on  the  notice  of 
one  so  infinitely  above  him.  The  whole  court  considered  the 
issue  of  this  day's  audience,  expected  with  so  much  doubt  and 
anxiety,  as  a  decisive  triumph  on  the  part  of  Leicester,  and 
lelt  assured  that  the  orb  of  his  rival  satellite,  if  not  altogether 
o&scured  by  his  lustre,  must  revolve  hereafter  in  a  dimmer  and 
more  distant  sphere.  So  thought  the  court  and  courtiers,  from 
iigh  to  low,  and  they  acted  accordingly. 

On  the  other  hand,  never  did  Leicester  return  the  general 
greeting  with  such  ready  and  condescending  courtesy,  or  en- 
deavour more  successfully  to  gather,  in  the  words  of  one  who 
at  that  moment  stood  at  no  great  distance  from  him,  "  golden 
opinions  from  all  sorts  of  men." 

For  all  the  favourite  earl  had  a  bow,  a  smile  at  least,  and 
often  a  kind  word.  Most  of  these  were  addressed  to  courtiers, 
whose  names  have  long  gone  down  the  tide  of  oblivion ;  but 
some  to  such  as  sound  strangely  in  our  ears,  when  connected 
with  the  ordinary  matters  of  human  life,  above  which  the 
gratitude  of  posterity  has  long  elevated  them.  A  few  of 
Leicester's  interlocutory  sentences  ran  as  follows  : 

"  Poynings,  good  morrow,  and  how  does  your  wife  and  fair 


KENILWORTH.  225 

daughter?  Why  come  they  not  to  court?  Adams,  your  suit 
is  naught :  the  Queen  will  grant  no  more  monopolies ;  but  I 
may  serve  you  in  another  matter.  My  good  Alderman  Ayl- 
ford,  the  suit  of  the  city,  affecting  Queenhithe,  shall  be  for- 
warded as  far  as  my  poor  interest  can  serve.  Master  Edmund 
Spencer,  touching  your  Irish  petition,  I  would  willingly  aid 
you,  from  my  love  to  the  Muses ;  but  thou  hast  nettled  the 
lord  treasurer." 

"  My  lord, "  said  the  poet,  "  were  I  permitted  to  explain " 

"Come  to  my  lodging,  Edmund,"  answered  the  earl — "not 
to-morrow  or  next  day,  but  soon.  Ha,  AYill  Shakspeare — wild 
"Will !  thou  hast  given  my  nephew,  Philip  Sidney,  love-powder : 
he  cannot  sleep  without  thy  Venus  and  Adonis  under  his  pillow ! 
We  will  have  thee  hanged  for  the  veriest  wizard  in  Europe. 
Hark  thee,  mad  wag,  I  have  not  forgotten  thy  matter  of  the 
patent  and  of  the  bears." 

The  player  bowed,  and  the  earl  nodded  and  passed  on — so 
that  age  would  have  told  the  tale;  in  ours,  perhaps,  we 
might  say  the  immortal  had  done  homage  to  the  mortal. 
The  next  whom  the  favourite  accosted  was  one  of  his  own 
zealous  dependants. 

"  How  now,  Sir  Francis  Denning, "  he  whispered,  in  answei 
to  his  exulting  salutation,  "that  smile  hath  made  thy  face 
shorter  by  one-third  than  when  I  first  saw  it  this  morning. 
What,  Master  Bowyer,  stand  you  back,  and  think  you  I  bear 
malice?  You  did  but  your  duty  this  morning;  and  if  I  re- 
member aught  of  the  passage  betwixt  us,  it  shall  be  in  thy 
favour." 

Then  the  earl  was  approached,  with  several  fantastic  con- 
gees, by  a  person  quaintly  dressed  in  a  doublet  of  black  velvet, 
curiously  slashed  and  pinked  with  crimson  satin.  A  long 
cock's  feather  in  the  velvet  bonnet  which  he  held  in  his  hand, 
and  an  enormous  ruff,  stiffened  to  the  extremity  of  the  ab- 
surd taste  of  the  times,  joined  with  a  sharp,  lively,  conceited 
expression  of  countenance,  seemed  to  body  forth  a  vain,  hare- 
brained coxcomb  and  small  wit ;  while  the  rod  he  held,  and 
an  assumption  of  formal  authority,  appeared  to  express  some 
sense  of  official  consequence,  which  qualified  the  natural  pert- 
15 


226  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

ness  of  liis  manner.  A  perpetual  blusli,  which  occupied 
rather  the  sharp  nose  than  the  thin  cheek  of  this  personage, 
seemed  to  speak  more  of  "  good  life, "  as  it  Avas  called,  than  of 
modesty ;  and  the  manner  in  which  he  approached  to  the  earl 
confirmed  that  suspicion. 

"  Good  even  to  you,  Master  Kobert  Laneham, "  said  Leices- 
ter, and  seemed  desirous  to  pass  forward  without  farther 
speech. 

"I  have  a  suit  to  your  noble  lordship,"  said  the  figure, 
boldly  following  him. 

"  And  what  is  it,  good  master  keeper  of  the  council-cham- 
ber door?" 

"  Clerk  of  the  council-chamber  door, "  said  Master  Kobert 
Laneham,  with  emphasis,  by  way  of  reply  and  of  correction. 

"Well,  qualify  thine  of&ce  as  thou  wilt,  man,"  replied  the 
earl;  "what  wouldst  thou  have  with  me?" 

"  Simply, "  answered  Laneham,  "  that  your  lordship  would 
be,  as  heretofore,  my  good  lord,  and  procure  me  license  to  at- 
tend the  summer  progress  unto  your  lordship's  most  beautiful 
and  aU-to-be  unmatched  Castle  of  Kenil worth." 

"  To  what  purpose,  good  Master  Laneham?"  replied  the 
earl;  "bethink  you,  my  guests  must  needs  be  many." 

"  Not  so  many,"  replied  the  petitioner,  "  but  that  your  noble- 
ness will  willingly  spare  your  old  servitor  his  crib  and  his 
mess.  Bethink  you,  my  lord,  how  necessary  is  this  rod  of 
mine  to  fright  away  all  those  listeners  who  else  would  play 
at  bo-peep  with  the  honourable  coxmcil,  and  be  searching  for 
keyholes  and  crannies  in  the  door  of  the  chamber,  so  as  to 
render  my  staff  as  needful  as  a  fly-flap  in  a  butcher's  shop." 

"  Methiuks  you  have  found  out  a  fly-blown  comparison  for 
the  honourable  council,  Master  Laneham, "  said  the  earl ;  "  but 
seek  not  about  to  justify  it.  Come  to  Kenilworth,  if  you  list; 
there  will  be  store  of  fools  there  besides,  and  so  you  will  be 
fitted." 

"  Nay,  an  there  be  fools,  my  lord, "  replied  Laneham,  with 
much  glee,  "  I  warrant  I  will  make  sport  among  them ;  for  no 
greyhound  loves  to  cote  a  hare  as  I  to  turn  and  course  a  fool. 
But  I  have  another  singular  favour  to  beseech  of  your  honour." 


KENILTVORTH.  227 

"  Speak  it,  and  let  me  go, "  said  the  earl ;  "  I  think  the  Queeu 
conies  forth  instantly." 

"  My  very  good  lord,  I  would  fain  bring  a  bed-fellow  with 
me." 

"How,  you  irreverent  rascal!"  said  Leicester. 

"Kay,  my  lord,  my  meaning  is  within  the  canons,"  an- 
swered his  unblushing,  or  rather  his  ever-blushing,  petitioner. 
"  I  have  a  wife  as  curious  as  her  grandmother,  who  eat  the 
apple.  Now,  take  her  with  me  I  may  not,  her  Highness's 
orders  being  so  strict  against  the  officers  bringing  with  them 
their  wives  in  a  progress,  and  so  lumbering  the  court  with 
womankind.  But  what  I  would  crave  of  your  lordship  is,  to 
find  room  for  her  in  some  mummery  or  pretty  pageant,  iu 
disguise,  as  it  were,  so  that,  not  being  known  for  my  wife, 
there  may  be  no  offence. " 

"The  foul  fiend  seize  ye  both!"  said  Leicester,  stung  into 
uncontrollable  passion  by  the  recollections  which  this  speech 
excited.     "^Vliy  stop  you  me  with  such  follies?" 

The  terrified  clerk  of  the  chamber  door,  astonished  at  the 
burst  of  resentment  he  had  so  unconsciously  produced,  di'opped 
his  staff  of  office  from  his  hand,  and  gazed  on  the  incensed  earl 
with  a  foolish  face  of  wonder  and  terror,  which  instantly  re- 
called Leicester  to  himself. 

"  I  meant  but  to  try  if  thou  hadst  the  audacity  which  befits 
thine  office,"  said  he,  hastily.  "Come  to  Kenil worth,  and 
bring  the  devil  with  thee  if  thou  wilt. " 

'•  My  wife,  sir,  hath  played  the  devil  ere  now,  in  a  mystery, 
in  Queen  Mary's  time;  but  we  shall  want  a  trifle  for  proper- 
ties." 

"  Here  is  a  crown  for  thee, "  said  the  earl ;  "  make  me  rid  of 
thee — the  great  bell  rings." 

INIaster  Eobert  Laneham  '  stared  a  moment  at  the  agitation 
which  he  had  excited,  and  then  said  to  himself,  as  he  stooped 
to  pick  up  his  staff  of  office :  "  The  noble  earl  runs  wild  hu- 
mours to-day;  but  they  who  give  crowns  expect  us  witty 
fellows  to  wink  at  their  unsettled  starts ;  and,  by  my  faith,  if 
they  paid  not  for  mercy,  we  would  finger  them  tightly!" 

>  See  Note  9., 


228  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

Leicester  moved  hastily  on,  neglecting  the  courtesies  he 
had  hitherto  dispensed  so  liberally,  and  hurrying  through  the 
courtly  crowd,  until  he  paused  in  a  small  withdi-awing-room, 
into  which  he  plunged  to  draw  a  moment's  breath  unobserved 
and  in  seclusion. 

"  What  am  I  now,"  he  said  to  himself,  "that  am  thus  jaded 
by  the  words  of  a  mean,  weather-beaten,  goose-brained  gull! 
Conscience,  thou  art  a  bloodhound,  whose  growl  wakes  as 
readily  at  the  paltry  stir  of  a  rat  or  mouse  as  at  the  step  of  a 
lion.  Can  I  not  quit  myself,  by  one  bold  stroke,  of  a  state  so 
irksome,  so  unhonoured?  What  if  I  kneel  to  Elizabeth,  and, 
owning  the  whole,  throw  myself  on  her  mercy?" 

As  he  pursued  this  train  of  thought,  the  door  of  the  apart- 
ment opened,  and  Varney  rushed  in. 

"Thank  God,  my  lord,  that  I  have  found  you!"  was  his 
exclamation. 

"  Thank  the  devil,  whose  agent  thou  art, "  was  the  earl's 
reply. 

"  Thank  whom  you  will,  my  lord, "  said  Varney ;  "  but 
hasten  to  the  water-side.  The  Queen  is  on  board,  and  asks 
for  you." 

"  Go,  say  I  am  taken  suddenly  ill, "  replied  Leicester ;  "  for, 
by  Heaven,  my  brain  can  sustain  this  no  longer!" 

"  I  may  well  say  so, "  said  Varney,  with  bitterness  of  ex- 
pression, "  for  your  place,  ay,  and  mine,  who,  as  your  master 
of  the  horse,  was  to  have  attended  your  lordship,  is  already 
filled  up  in  the  Queen's  barge.  The  new  minion,  Walter 
Raleigh,  and  our  old  acquaintance,  Tressilian,  were  called  for 
to  fill  our  places  just  as  I  hastened  away  to  seek  you." 

"  Thou  art  a  devil,  Varney, "  said  Leicester,  hastily ;  "  but 
thou  hast  the  mastery  for  the  present:  I  follow  thee." 

Varney  replied  not,  but  led  the  way  out  of  the  palace,  and 
towards  the  river,  while  his  master  followed  him  as  if  me- 
chanically; untn,  looking  back,  he  said  in  a  tone  which 
savoured  of  familiarity  at  least,  if  not  of  authority :  "  How  is 
this,  my  lord?  your  cloak  hangs  on  one  side,  your  hose  are 
embraced;  permit  me " 

"  Thou  art  a  fool,  Varney,  as  well  as  a  knave, "  said  Leices- 


KENILWORTH.  229 

»er,  shaking  him  off,  and  rejecting  his  officious  assistance ;  "  we 
are  best  thus,  sir :  Avhen  we  require  you  to  order  our  person, 
it  is  well,  but  now  we  want  you  not." 

So  saying,  the  earl  resumed  at  once  his  air  of  command, 
and  with  it  his  self-possession,  shook  his  dress  into  yet  wilder 
disorder,  passed  before  Varney  with  the  air  of  a  superior  and 
master,  and  in  his  turn  led  the  way  to  the  river-side. 

The  Queen's  barge  was  on  the  very  point  of  putting  off} 
the  seat  allotted  to  Leicester  in  the  stern,  and  that  to  his 
master  of  the  horse  on  the  bow,  of  the  boat  being  already 
filled  up.  But  on  Leicester's  approach  there  was  a  pause,  as 
if  the  bargemen  anticipated  some  alteration  in  their  company. 
The  angry  spot  was,  however,  on  the  Queen's  cheek,  as,  in 
that  cold  tone  with  which  superiors  endeavour  to  veil  their 
internal  agitation,  while  speaking  to  those  before  whom  it 
would  be  derogation  to  express  it,  she  pronounced  the  chilling 
words :  "  We  have  waited,  my  Lord  of  Leicester. " 

"  Madam  and  most  gracious  princess, "  said  Leicester,  "  you, 
who  can  pardon  so  many  weaknesses  which  your  own  heart 
never  knows,  can  best  bestow  your  commiseration  on  the  agi- 
tations of  the  bosom,  which,  for  a  moment,  affect  both  head 
and  limbs.  I  came  to  your  presence  a  doubting  and  an  accused 
subject;  your  goodness  penetrated  the  clouds  of  defamation, 
and  restored  me  to  my  honour,  and,  what  is  yet  dearer,  to 
your  favour — is  it  wonderful,  though  for  me  it  is  most  un- 
happy, that  my  master  of  the  horse  should  have  found  me 
in  a  state  which  scarce  permitted  me  to  make  the  exertion 
necessary  to  follow  him  to  this  place,  when  one  glance  of  your 
Highness,  although,  alas !  an  angry  one,  has  had  power  to  do 
that  for  me  in  which  Esculapius  might  have  failed?" 

''How  is  this?"  said  Elizabeth,  hastily,  looking  at  Varney; 
^'hath  your  lord  been  ill?" 

"  Something  of  a  fainting  fit, "  answered  the  ready-witted 
Varney,  "  as  your  Grace  may  observe  from  his  present  condi- 
tion. My  lord's  haste  would  not  permit  me  leisure  even  to 
bring  his  dress  into  order. " 

"  It  matters  not, "  said  Elizabeth,  as  she  gazed  on  the  noble 
face  and  form  of  Leicester,  to  which  even  the  strange  mixture 


230  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

of  passions  by  which  he  had  been  so  lately  agitated  gave  addi- 
tional interest ;  "  make  room  for  my  noble  lord.  Your  place, 
Master  Varney,  has  been  filled  up ;  you  must  find  a  seat  in 
another  barge." 

Varney  bowed  and  withdrew. 

"  And  you,  too,  our  young  Squire  of  the  Cloak,"  added  she, 
looking  at  Raleigh,  "  must,  for  the  time,  go  to  the  barge  of  our 
ladies  of  honour.  As  for  Tressilian,  he  hath  already  suffered 
too  much  by  the  caprice  of  women  that  I  shovild  aggrieve  him 
by  my  change  of  plan,  so  far  as  he  is  concerned. " 

Leicester  seated  himself  in  his  place  in  the  barge,  and  close 
to  the  sovereign ;  Raleigh  rose  to  retire,  and  Tressilian  wovild 
have  been  so  ill-timed  in  his  courtesy  as  to  offer  to  relinquish 
his  own  place  to  his  friend,  had  not  the  acute  glance  of  Raleigh 
himself,  who  seemed  now  in  his  native  element,  made  him 
sensible  that  so  ready  a  disclamation  of  the  royal  favour  might 
be  misinterpreted.  He  sate  silent,  therefore,  whilst  Raleigh, 
with  a  profound  bow  and  a  look  of  the  deepest  humiliation, 
was  about  to  quit  his  place. 

A  noble  courtier,  the  gallant  Lord  Willoughby,  read,  as  he 
thought,  something  in  the  Queen's  face  which  seemed  to  pity 
Raleigh's  real  or  assumed  semblance  of  mortification. 

"  It  is  not  for  us  old  courtiers, "  he  said,  "  to  hide  the  sun- 
shine from  the  young  ones.  I  will,  with  her  Majesty's  leave, 
relinquish  for  an  hour  that  which  her  subjects  hold  dearest, 
the  delight  of  her  Highness 's  presence,  and  mortify  myseK  by 
walking  in  starlight,  while  I  forsake  for  a  brief  season  the 
glory  of  Diana's  own  beams.  I  will  take  place  in  the  boat 
which  the  ladies  occupy,  and  permit  this  young  cavalier  his 
hour  of  promised  felicity." 

The  Queen  replied,  with  an  expression  betwixt  mirth  and 
earnest :  "  If  you  are  so  willing  to  leave  us,  my  lord,  we  cannot 
help  the  mortification.  But,  under  favour,  we  do  not  trust  you 
— old  and  experienced  as  you  may  deem  yourself — with  the  care 
of  our  young  ladies  of  honour.  Your  venerable  age,  my  lord, " 
she  continued,  smiling,  "  may  be  better  assorted  with  that  of 
my  lord  treasurer,  who  follows  in  the  third  boat,  and  whose 
experience  even  my  Lord  Willoughby 's  may  be  improved  by." 


KENILWORTH.  231 

Lord  Willougliby  hid  his  disappointment  under  a  smile, 
laughed,  was  confused,  bowed,  and  left  the  Queen's  barge  to 
go  on  board  my  Lord  Burleigh's,  Leicester,  who  endeavoured 
to  divert  his  thoughts  fi'om  all  internal  reflection  by  fixing  them 
on  what  was  passing  aroimd,  watched  this  circumstance  among 
others.  But  when  the  boat  put  off  from  the  shore,  when  the 
music  sounded  from  a  barge  which  accompanied  them,  when 
the  shouts  of  the  populace  were  heard  from  the  shore,  and  all 
reminded  him  of  the  situation  in  which  he  was  placed,  he  ab- 
stracted his  thoughts  and  feelings  by  a  strong  effort  from  every- 
thing but  the  necessity  of  maintaining  himself  in  the  favour 
of  his  patroness,  and  exerted  his  talents  of  pleasiog  captiva- 
tion  with  such  success  that  the  Queen,  alternately  delighted 
with  his  conversation  and  alarmed  for  his  health,  at  length 
imposed  a  temporary  silence  on  him,  with  playful  yet  anxious 
care,  lest  his  flow  of  spirits  should  exhaust  him. 

"  My  lords, "  she  said,  "  having  passed  for  a  time  our  edict 
of  silence  upon  our  good  Leicester,  we  will  call  you  to  counsel 
on  a  gamesome  matter,  more  fitted  to  be  now  treated  of,  amidst 
mirth  and  music,  than  in  the  gravity  of  our  ordinary  delibera- 
tions. Which  of  you,  my  lords,"  said  she,  smiling,  "know 
aught  of  a  petition  from  Orson  Pinnit,  the  keeper,  as  he  quali- 
fies himself,  of  our  royal  bears?  Who  stands  godfather  to  his 
request?" 

"Marry,  with  your  Grace's  good  permission,  that  do  I," 
said  the  Earl  of  Sussex.  "  Orson  Pinnit  was  a  stout  soldier 
before  he  was  so  mangled  by  the  skenes  of  the  Irish  clan  Mac- 
Donough,  and  I  trust  your  Grace  will  be,  as  you  always  have 
been,  good  mistress  to  your  good  and  trusty  servants." 

"  Surely, "  said  the  Queen,  "  it  is  our  purpose  to  be  so,  and 
in  especial  to  our  poor  soldiers  and  sailors,  who  hazard  their 
lives  for  little  pay.  We  would  give,"  she  said,  with  her  eyes 
sparkling,  "  yonder  royal  palace  of  ours  to  be  an  hospital  for 
their  use,  rather  than  they  should  call  their  mistress  ungrate- 
ful. But  this  is  not  the  question, "  she  said,  her  voice,  which 
had  been  awakened  by  her  patriotic  feelings,  once  more  sub- 
siding into  the  tone  of  gay  and  easy  conversation ;  "  for  this 
Orson  Pinnit' s  request  goes  something  farther.     He  complains 


232  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

that,  amidst  the  extreme  delight  with  which  men  haunt  the 
play-houses,  and  in  especial  their  eager  desire  for  seeing  the 
exhibitions  of  one  Will  Shakspeare — whom,  I  think,  my 
lords,  we  have  all  heard  something  of — the  manly  amusement 
of  bear-baiting  is  falling  into  comparative  neglect;  since  men 
will  rather  throng  to  see  these  roguish  players  kill  each  other 
in  jest  than  to  see  our  royal  dogs  and  bears  worry  each  oth- 
er in  bloody  earnest.  "What  say  you  to  this,  my  Lord  of 
Sussex?" 

"Why,  truly,  gracious  madam,"  said  Sussex,  "you  must 
expect  little  from  an  old  soldier  like  me  in  favour  of  battles  in 
sport,  when  they  are  compared  with  battles  in  earnest;  and 
yet,  by  my  faith,  I  wish  Will  Shakspeare  no  hai-m.  He  is  a 
stout  man  at  quarter-staff  and  single  falchion,  though,  as  I 
am  told,  a  halting  fellow;  and  he  stood,  they  say,  a  tough 
fight  with  the  rangers  of  old  Sir  Thomas  Lucy  of  Charlecot, 
when  he  broke  his  deer-park  and  kissed  his  keeper's  daughter." 

"  I  cry  you  mercy,  my  Lord  of  Sussex, "  said  Queen  Eliza- 
beth, interrupting  him ;  "  that  matter  was  heard  in  council,  and 
we  will  not  have  this  fellow's  offence  exaggerated:  there  was 
no  kissing  in  the  matter,  and  the  defendant  hath  put  the  de- 
nial on  record.  But  what  say  you  to  his  present  practice,  my 
lord,  on  the  stage?  for  there  lies  the  point,  and  not  in  any 
ways  touching  his  former  errors,  in  breaking  parks  or  the 
other  follies  you  speak  of." 

"  Why,  truly,  madam, "  replied  Sussex,  "  as  I  said  before,  I 
wish  the  gamesome,  mad  fellow  no  injury.  Some  of  his 
whoreson  poetry — I  crave  your  Grace's  pardon  for  such  a 
phrase — has  rung  in  mine  ears  as  if  the  lines  sounded  to  boot 
and  saddle.  But  then  it  is  all  froth  and  folly — no  substance 
or  seriousness  in  it,  as  your  Grace  has  already  well  touched. 
What  are  half  a  dozen  knaves,  with  rusty  foils  and  tattered 
targets,  making  but  a  mere  mockery  of  a  stout  fight,  to  com- 
pare to  the  royal  game  of  bear-baiting,  which  hath  been  graced 
by  your  Highness 's  countenance,  and  that  of  your  royal  prede- 
cessors, in  this  your  princely  kingdom,  famous  for  matchless 
mastiffs  and  bold  bear-wards  over  all  Christendom?  Greatly 
is  it  to  be  doubted  that  the  race  of  both  will  decay,  if  men  should 


KENIL  WORTH.  233 

throng  to  hear  the  lungs  of  an  idle  player  belch  forth  non- 
sensical bombast,  instead  of  bestowing  their  pence  in  encourag- 
ing the  bravest  image  of  war  that  can  be  shown  in  peace,  and 
that  is  the  sports  of  the  bear-garden.  There  you  may  see  the 
bear  lying  at  guard  with  his  red  pinky  eyes,  watching  the  on- 
set of  the  mastiff,  like  a  wily  captain,  who  maintains  his  de- 
fence that  an  assailant  may  be  tempted  to  venture  withm  his 
danger.  And  then  comes  sir  mastiff,  like  a  worthy  champion, 
in  full  career  at  the  throat  of  his  adversary ;  and  then  shall  sir 
bruin  teach  him  the  reward  for  those  who,  in  their  over-cour- 
age, neglect  the  policies  of  war,  and,  catching  him  in  his  arms, 
strain  him  to  his  breast  like  a  lusty  wrestler,  imtil  rib  after  rib 
crack  like  the  shot  of  a  pistolet.  And  then  another  mastiff, 
as  bold,  but  with  better  aim  and  sounder  judgment,  catches 
sir  bruin  by  the  nether  lip,  and  hangs  fast,  while  he  tosses 
about  his  blood  and  slaver,  and  tries  in  vain  to  shake  Sir  Tal- 
bot from  his  hold.     And  then " 

"  Nay,  by  my  honour,  my  lord, "  said  the  Queen,  laughing, 
*'you  have  described  the  whole  so  admirably  that,  had  we 
never  seen  a  bear-baiting,  as  we  have  beheld  many,  and  hope, 
with  Heaven's  allowance,  to  see  many  more,  your  words  were 
sufficient  to  put  the  whole  bear-garden  before  our  eyes.  But 
come,  who  speaks  next  in  this  case?  My  Lord  of  Leicester, 
what  say  you?" 

"  Am  I  then  to  consider  myself  as  unmuzzled,  please  your 
Grace?"  replied  Leicester. 

"  Surely,  my  lord — that  is,  if  you  feel  hearty  enough  to  take 
part  in  our  game, "  answered  Elizabeth ;  "  and  yet,  when  I  think 
of  your  cognizance  of  the  bear  and  ragged  staff,  methinks  we 
had  better  hear  some  less  partial  orator." 

"Nay,  on  my  word,  gracious  princess,"  said  the  earl, 
*' though  my  brother  Ambrose  of  Warwick  and  I  do  carry  the 
ancient  cognizance  your  Highness  deigns  to  remember,  I  never- 
theless desire  nothing  but  fair  play  on  all  sides ;  or,  as  they 
say,  'Fight  dog,  fight  bear.'  And  in  behalf  of  the  players,  I 
must  needs  say  that  they  are  witty  knaves,  whose  rants  and 
jests  keep  the  minds  of  the  commons  from  busying  themselves 
with  state  affairs,  and  listening  to  traitorous  speeches,  idle 


234  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

rumours,  and  disloyal  insinuations.  "When  men  are  agape  to 
see  how  Marlow,  Shakspeare,  and  other  play  artificers  work 
out  their  fanciful  plots,  as  they  call  them,  the  mind  of  the 
spectators  is  withdrawn  from  the  conduct  of  their  rulers." 

"  We  would  not  have  the  mind  of  our  subjects  withdrawn 
from  the  consideration  of  our  own  conduct,  my  lord, "  answered 
Elizabeth ;  "  because,  the  more  closely  it  is  examined,  the  true 
motives  by  which  we  are  guided  will  appear  the  more  mani- 
fest." 

"I  have  heard,  however,  madam,"  said  the  Dean  of  St. 
Asaph's,  an  eminent  Puritan,  "that  these  players  are  wont, 
in.  their  plays,  not  only  to  introduce  profane  and  lewd  expres- 
sions, tending  to  foster  sin  and  harlotry,  but  even  to  bellow  out 
such  reflections  on  government,  its  origin  and  its  object,  as 
tend  to  render  the  subject  discontented,  and  shake  the  solid 
foundations  of  civil  society.  And  it  seems  to  be,  mider  your 
Grace's  favour,  far  less  than  safe  to  permit  these  naughty,  foul- 
mouthed  knaves  to  ridicule  the  godly  for  their  decent  gravit}-, 
and  in  blaspheming  Heaven,  and  slandering  its  earthly  rulers, 
to  set  at  defiance  the  laws  both  of  God  and  man." 

"  If  we  could  tliink  this  were  true,  my  lord, "  said  Elizabeth, 
"  we  should  give  sharp  correction  for  such  offences.  But  it  is 
ill  arguing  against  the  use  of  anything  from  its  abuse.  And 
touching  this  Shakspeare,  we  think  there  is  that  in  his  plays 
that  is  worth  twenty  bear-gardens ;  and  that  this  new  under- 
taking of  his  Chronicles,  as  he  calls  them,  may  entertain,  with 
honest  mirth,  mingled  with  useful  instruction,  not  only  our 
subjects,  but  even  the  generation  which  may  succeed  to  us." 

"  Your  Majesty's  reign  will  need  no  such  feeble  aid  to  make 
it  remembered  to  the  latest  posterity, "  said  Leicester.  "  And 
yet,  in  his  way,  Shakspeare  hath  so  touched  some  incidents  of 
your  Majesty's  happy  government  as  may  countervail  what 
has  been  ■  spoken  by  his  reverence  the  Dean  of  St.  Asaph's. 
There  are  some  lines,  for  example — I  would  my  nephew, 
Philii>  Sidney,  were  here,  they  are  scarce  ever  out  of  his 
mouth — ^they  are  spoken  in  a  mad  tale  of  fairies,  love-charms, 
and  I  wot  not  what  besides ;  but  beautiful  they  are,  however 
short  they  may  and  must  fall  of  the  subject  to  which  they  bear 


KENILWORTH.  235 

a  bold  relation,  and  Philip  murmurs  them,  I  think,  even  ia 
his  dreams." 

"You  tantalise  us,  my  lord,"  said  the  Queen.  "Master 
Philip  Sidney  is,  we  know,  a  minion  of  the  Muses,  and  we  ai'd 
pleased  it  should  be  so.  Valour  never  shines  to  more  advan- 
tage than  when  imited  with  the  true  taste  and  lo-s'e  of  letters. 
But  surely  there  are  some  others  among  our  young  coui-tiers 
who  can  recollect  Avhat  your  lordship  has  forgotten  amid 
weightier  affairs.  Master  Tressilian,  you  are  described  to  me 
as  a  worshipper  of  Minerva — remember  you  aught  of  these 
lines? 

Tressilian 's  heart  was  too  heavy,  his  prospects  in  life  too 
fatally  blighted,  to  profit  by  the  opportunity  which  the  Queen 
thus  offered  to  him  of  attracting  her  attention,  but  he  deter- 
mined to  transfer  the  advantage  to  his  more  ambitious  young 
friend;  and,  excusing  himself  on  the  score  of  want  of  recol- 
lection, he  added,  that  he  believed  the  beautiful  verses  of 
which  my  Lord  of  Leicester  had  spoken  were  in  the  remem- 
brance of  Master  Walter  Raleigh. 

At  the  command  of  the  Queen,  that  cavalier  repeated,  with 
ftccent  and  manner  which  even  added  to  their  exquisite  deli- 
cacy of  tact  and  beauty  of  description,  the  celebrated  vision  of 
Oberon : 

''  That  very  time  I  saw  (but  thou  couldst  not), 
Flying  between  the  cold  moon  and  the  earth, 
Cupid,  all  arm'd  ;  a  certain  aim  he  took 
At  a  fair  vestal,  throned  by  the  west ; 
And  loos'd  his  love-shaft  smartly  from  his  bow, 
As  it  should  pierce  a  hundred  thousand  hearts. 
But  I  might  see  young  Cupid's  fiery  shaft 
Quench' d  in  the  chaste  beams  of  the  watery  moon; 
And  the  imperial  vot'ress  passed  on. 
In  maiden  meditation, fancy  free." 

The  voice  of  Raleigh,  as  he  repeated  the  last  lines,  became  a 
little  tremulous,  as  if  diffident  how  the  sovereign  to  whom  the 
homage  was  addressed  might  receive  it,  exquisite  as  it  was. 
If  this  diffidence  was  affected,  it  was  good  policy;  but  if  real, 
there  was  little  occasion  for  it.  The  verses  were  not  probably 
new  to  the  Queen,  for  when  was  ever  such  elegant  flattery  long 
in  reaching  the  royal  ear  to  which  it  was  addressed?     But  they 


236  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

were  not  tlie  less  welcome  wlien  repeated  by  such  a  speaker  as 
Raleigh.  Alike  delighted  with  the  matter,  the  manner,  and 
the  graceful  form  and  animated  countenance  of  the  gallant 
young  reciter,  Elizabeth  kept  time  to  every  cadence  with  look 
and  with  finger.  When  the  speaker  had  ceased,  she  mur- 
mured over  the  last  lines  as  if  scarce  conscious  that  she  was 
overheard,  and  as  she  uttered  the  words, 

*'  In  maiden  meditation,  fancy  free," 

she  dropt  into  the  Thames  the  supplication  of  Orson  Pinnit, 
keeper  of  the  royal  bears,  to  find  more  favourable  acceptance 
at  Sheerness,  or  wherever  the  tide  might  waft  it. 

Leicester  was  spurred  to  emulation  by  the  success  of  the 
young  courtier's  exhibition,  as  the  veteran  racer  is  roused 
when  a  high-mettled  colt  passes  him  on  the  way.  He  turned 
the  discourse  on  shows,  banquets,  pageants,  and  on  the  char- 
acter of  those  by  whom  these  gay  scenes  were  then  frequented. 
He  mixed  acute  observation  with  light  satire,  in  that  just 
proportion  which  was  free  alike  from  malignant  slander  and 
insipid  praise.  He  mimicked  with  ready  accent  the  manners  of 
the  affected  or  the  clownish,  and  made  his  own  graceful  tone 
and  manner  seem  doubly  such  when  he  resumed  it.  Foreign 
countries — their  customs,  their  manners,  the  rules  of  their 
courts,  the  fashions,  and  even  the  dress,  of  their  ladies,  were 
equally  his  theme ;  and  seldom  did  he  conclude  without  con- 
veying some  compliment,  always  couched  in  delicacy  and  ex- 
pressed with  propriety,  to  the  Virgin  Queen,  her  court,  and 
her  government.  Thus  passed  the  conversation  during  this 
pleasure  voyage,  seconded  by  the  rest  of  the  attendants  upon 
the  royal  person,  in  gay  discourse,  varied  by  remarks  upon 
ancient  classics  and  modern  authors,  and  enriched  by  maxims 
of  deep  policy  and  sound  morality  by  the  statesmen  and  sages 
who  sate  around,  and  mixed  wisdom  with  the  lighter  talk  of  a 
female  court. 

When  they  returned  to  the  palace,  Elizabeth  accepted,  or 
rather  selected,  the  arm  of  Leicester  to  support  her  from  the 
stairs  where  they  landed  to  the  great  gate.  It  even  seemed 
to   him   (though  that   might   arise   from  the  flattery  of  his 


EENILWORTH.  237 

own  imagination)  that,  during  this  short  passage,  she  leaned 
on  him  somewhat  more  than  the  slippiness  of  the  way  ne- 
cessarily demanded.  Certainly  her  actions  and  words  com- 
bined to  express  a  degree  of  favour  which,  even  m  his 
proudest  days,  he  had  not  till  then  attained.  His  rival, 
indeed,  was  repeatedly  graced  by  the  Queen's  notice;  but  it 
was  in  a  manner  that  seemed  to  flow  less  from  spontaneous  in- 
clination than  as  extorted  by  a  sense  of  his  merit.  And,  in 
the  opinion  of  many  experienced  courtiers,  all  the  favour  she 
showed  him  was  overbalanced  by  her  whispering  in  the  ear  of 
the  Lady  Derby,  that  "  Now  she  saw  sickness  was  a  better 
alchemist  than  she  before  wotted  of,  seeing  it  had  changed  my 
Lord  of  Sussex's  copper  nose  into  a  golden  one." 

The  jest  transpired,  and  the  Earl  of  Leicester  enjoyed  his 
triumph,  as  one  to  whom  court  favour  had  been  both  the 
primary  and  the  ultimate  motive  of  life,  while  he  forgot  in 
the  intoxication  of  the  moment  the  perplexities  and  dangers 
of  his  own  situation.  Indeed,  strange  as  it  may  appear,  he 
thought  less  at  that  moment  of  the  perils  arising  from  his  secret 
union  than  of  the  marks  of  grace  which  Elizabeth  from  time 
to  time  showed  to  young  Ealeigh.  They  were  indeed  transient, 
but  they  were  conferred  on  one  accomplished  in  mind  and  body 
with  grace,  gallantry,  literature,  and  valour.  An  accident  oc- 
curred in  the  course  of  the  evening  which  riveted  Leicester's 
attention  to  this  object. 

The  nobles  and  courtiers  who  had  attended  the  Queen  on 
her  pleasure  expedition  were  invited,  with  royal  hospitality, 
to  a  splendid  banquet  in  the  hall  of  the  palace.  The  table 
was  not,  indeed,  graced  by  the  presence  of  the  sovereign  j  for, 
agreeable  to  her  idea  of  what  was  at  once  modest  and  dignified, 
the  Maiden  Queen  on  such  occasions  was  wont  to  take  in  pri- 
vate, or  with  one  or  two  favourite  ladies,  her  light  and 
temperate  meal.  After  a  moderate  interval,  the  court  again 
met  in  the  splendid  gardens  of  the  palace ;  and  it  was  while 
thus  engaged  that  the  Queen  suddenly  asked  a  lady,  who  was 
near  to  her  both  in  place  and  favour,  what  had  become  of  the 
young  Squire  Lack-Cloak. 

The  Lady  Paget  answered,  "  She  had  seen  Master  Ealeigh 


238  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

but  two  or  tliree  minutes  since,  standing  at  tlie  window  of  a 
small  pavilion  or  pleasure-house  which,  looked  out  on  the 
Thames,  and  writing  on  the  glass  with  a  diamond  rmg."' 

"  That  ring, "  said  the  Queen,  "  was  a  small  token  I  gave 
him,  to  make  amends  for  his  spoiled  mantle.  Come,  Paget, 
let  us  see  what  use  he  has  made  of  it,  for  I  can  see  through 
him  already.     He  is  a  marvellously  sharp-witted  spirit. " 

They  went  to  the  spot,  within  sight  of  which,  but  at  some 
distance,  the  young  cavalier  still  lingered,  as  the  fowler 
watches  the  net  which  he  has  set.  The  Queen  approached  the 
window,  on  which  Raleigh  had  used  her  gift  to  inscribe  the 
following  line : 

"  Fain  would  I  climb,  but  that  I  fear  to  fall." 

The  Queen  smiled,  read  it  twice  over,  once  with  deliberation 
to  Lady  Paget,  and  once  again  to  herself.  "  It  is  a  pretty 
beginning, "  she  said,  after  the  consideration  of  a  moment  or 
two ;  "  but  methmks  the  muse  hath  deserted  the  young  wit  at 
the  very  outset  of  his  task.  It  were  good-natured,  were  it  not, 
Lady  Paget,  to  complete  it  for  him?  Try  your  rhyming 
faculties." 

Lady  Paget,  prosaic  from  her  cradle  upwards,  as  ever  any 
lady  of  the  bedchamber  before  or  after  her,  disclaimed  aU 
possibility  of  assisting  the  young  poet. 

"  Nay,  then,  we  must  sacrifice  to  the  Muses  ourselves, "  said 
Elizabeth. 

"  The  incense  of  no  one  can  be  more  acceptable, "  said  Lady 
Paget;  "and  your  Highness  will  impose  such  obligation  on 
the  ladies  of  Parnassus " 

"Hush,  Paget,"  said  the  Queen,  "you  speak  sacrilege 
against  the  immortal  Nine;  yet,  virgins  themselves,  they 
should  be  exorable  to  a  virgin  queen ;  and,  therefore,  let  me 
see  how  runs  his  verse — 

Fain  would  I  climb,  but  that  I  fear  to  fall. 

Might  not  the  answer,  for  fault  of  a  better,  run  thus — 

If  thy  mind  fail  thee,  do  not  climb  at  all?  " 

The  dame  of  honour  uttered  an  exclamation  of  joy  and  sur- 


KENILWORTH.  239 

prise  at  so  happy  a  termijiation ;  and  certainly  a  worse  has 
been  applauded,  even  when  coming  from  a  less  distinguished 
author. 

The  Queen,  thus  encouraged,  took  off  a  diamond  ring,  and 
saying,  *'  We  will  give  this  gallant  some  cause  of  marvel,  wheu 
he  finds  his  couplet  perfected  without  his  own  interference,  *" 
she  wrote  her  own  line  beneath  that  of  Kaleigh. 

The  Queen  left  the  pavilion ;  but,  retiring  slowly  and  often 
looking  back,  she  could  see  the  young  cavalier  steal,  with  the 
flight  of  a  lapwing,  towards  the  place  where  he  had  seen  her 
make  a  pause.  "  She  staid  but  to  observe, "  as  she  said,  "  that 
her  train  had  taken ;"  and  then,  laughing  at  the  circumstance 
with  the  Lady  Paget,  she  took  the  way  slowly  towards  the 
palace.  Elizabeth,  as  they  retxu-ned,  cautioned  her  companion 
not  to  mention  to  any  one  the  aid  which  she  had  given  to  the 
young  poet,  and  Lady  Paget  promised  scrupulous  secrecy. 
It  is  to  be  supposed  that  she  made  a  mental  reservation  in 
favour  of  Leicester,  to  whom  her  ladyship  transmitted  without 
delay  an  anecdote  so  little  calculated  to  give  him  pleasure. 

Raleigh,  in  the  mean  while,  stole  back  to  the  window,  and 
read,  with  a  feeling  of  intoxication,  the  encouragement  thus 
given  him  by  the  Queen  in  person  to  follow  out  his  ambitious 
career,  and  returned  to  Sussex  and  his  retinue,  then  on  the 
point  of  embarking  to  go  up  the  river,  his  heart  beating  high 
with  gratified  pride  and  with  hope  of  future  distinction. 

The  reverence  due  to  the  person  of  the  earl  prevented  any 
notice  being  taken  of  the  reception  he  had  met  with  at  court, 
until  they  had  landed,  and  the  household  were  assembled  in 
the  great  hall  at  Say's  Court;  while  that  lord,  exhausted  by 
his  late  illness  and  the  fatigues  of  the  day,  had  retired  to 
his  chamber,  demanding  the  attendance  of  "Wayland,  his  suc- 
cessful physician.  \Yayland,  however,  was  nowhere  to  be 
found;  and,  while  some  of  the  party  were,  with  military  im- 
patience, seeking  him,  and  cursing  his  absence,  the  rest  flocked 
around  Ealeigh  to  congratulate  him  on  his  prospects  of  court 
favour. 

He  had  the  good  taste  and  judgment  to  conceal  the  decisive 
circumstance  of  the  couplet,  to  which  Elizabeth  had  deigned 


240  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

to  find  a  rliyme ;  but  other  indications  had  transpired  whicTi 
plainly  intimated  that  he  had  made  some  progress  in  the 
Queen's  favour.  All  hastened  to  wish  him  joy  on  the  mended 
appearance  of  his  fortune — some  from  real  regard;  some,  per- 
haps, from  hopes  that  his  preferment  might  hasten  their  own ; 
and  most  from  a  mixture  of  these  motives,  and  a  sense  that 
the  countenance  shown  to  any  one  of  Sussex's  household  was, 
in  fact,  a  triumph  to  the  whole.  Raleigh  returned  the  kindest 
thanks  to  them  all,  disowning,  with  becoming  modesty,  that 
one  day's  fair  reception  made  a  favourite,  any  more  than  one 
swallow  a  summer.  But  he  observed  that  Blount  did  not  join 
in  the  general  congratulation,  and,  somewhat  hurt  at  his  ap- 
parent unkindness,  he  plainly  asked  him  the  reason. 

Blount  replied  with  equal  sincerity :  "  My  good  Walter,  I 
wish  thee  as  well  as  do  any  of  these  chattering  gulls,  who  are 
whistling  and  whooping  gratulations  in  thine  ear,  because  it 
seems  fair  weather  with  thee.  But  I  fear  for  thee,  Walter 
(and  he  wiped  his  honest  eye) — I  fear  for  thee  with  all  my 
heart.  These  court  tricks,  and  gambols,  and  flashes  of  fine 
women's  favour,  are  the  tricks  and  trinkets  that  bring  fair  for- 
tunes to  farthings,  and  fine  faces  and  witty  coxcombs  to  the 
acquaintance  of  dvill  block  and  sharp  axes." 

So  saying,  Blount  arose  and  left  the  hall,  while  Ealeigh 
looked  after  him  with  an  expression  that  blanked  for  a  moment 
his  bold  and  animated  countenance. 

Stanley  just  then  entered  the  hall,  and  said  to  Tressilian: 
*'  My  lord  is  calling  for  your  fellow  Wayland,  and  your  fellow 
Way  land  is  just  come  hither  in  a  sculler,  and  is  calling  for 
you,  nor  will  he  go  to  my  lord  till  he  sees  you.  The  fellow 
looks  as  he  were  mazed,  methinks.  I  would  you  would  see 
him  immediately." 

Tressilian  instantly  left  the  hall,  and  causing  Wayland 
Smith  to  be  shown  into  a  withdrawing-apartment,  and  lights 
placed,  he  conducted  the  artist  thither,  and  was  surprised 
when  he  observed  the  emotion  of  his  countenance. 

"What  is  the  matter  with  you.  Smith?"  said  Tressilian; 
"have  you  seen  the  devil?" 

"Worse,   sir — worse,"  replied   Wayland,   "I  have  seen  a 


KENILWORTH.  241 

basilisk.     Thank  God,  I  saw  liini  first,  for,  "being  so  seen,  and 
seeing  not  me,  lie  will  do  the  less  harm." 

"In  God's  name,  speak  sense,"  said  Tressilian,  "and  say 
what  you  mean!" 

"  I  have  seen  my  old  master,"  said  the  artist.  "  Last  night, 
a  friend  whom  I  had  acquired  took  me  to  see  the  palace  clock, 
judging  me  to  be  curious  in  such  works  of  art.  At  the  window 
of  a  turret  next  to  the  clock-house  I  saw  my  old  master." 

"  Thou  must  needs  have  been  mistaken, "  said  Tressilian. 

"  I  was  not  mistaken, "  said  Way  land.  "  He  that  once  hath 
his  features  by  heart  would  knoAv  him  amongst  a  million.  He 
was  anticly  habited;  but  he  cannot  disguise  himself  from  me, 
■God  be  praised!  as  I  can  from  him.  I  will  not,  however, 
tempt  Providence  by  remaining  within  his  ken.  Tarleton  the 
player  himseK  could  not  so  disguise  himself  but  that,  sooner 
or  later,  Doboobie  would  find  him  out.  I  must  away  to-mor- 
row; for,  as  we  stand  together,  it  were  death  to  me  to  remain 
within  reach  of  him. " 

"  But  the  Earl  of  Sussex?"  said  Tressilian. 

"  He  is  in  little  danger  from  what  he  has  hitherto  taken, 
provided  he  swallow  the  matter  of  a  bean's  size  of  the  orvietan 
•every  morning  fasting;  but  let  him  beware  of  a  relapse." 

"And  how  is  that  to  be  guarded  against?"  said  Tressi- 
lian. 

"  Only  by  such  caution  as  j^ou  would  use  against  the  devil, " 
answered  Wayland.  *'  Let  my  lord's  clerk  of  the  kitchen  kill 
his  lord's  meat  himseK,  and  dress  it  himself,  using  no  spice 
but  what  he  procures  from  the  surest  hands.  Let  the  sewer 
serve  it  up  himseK,  and  let  the  master  of  my  lord's  household 
see  that  both  clerk  and  sewer  taste  the  dishes  which  the  one 
dresses  and  the  other  serves.  Let  my  lord  use  no  perfumes 
which  come  not  from  well  accredited  persons — no  unguents — 
no  pomades.  Let  him,  on  no  account,  drink  with  strangers, 
or  eat  fruit  with  them,  either  in  the  way  of  nooning  or  other- 
wise. Especially,  let  him  observe  such  caution  if  he  goes 
to  Kenilworth:  the  excuse  of  his  illness,  and  his  being 
imder  diet,  will,  and  must,  cover  the  strangeness  of  such 
practice." 
16 


242  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

"And  thou,"  said  Tressilian,  "-what  dost  thou  think  to 
make  of  thyself?" 

"France,  Spain,  either  India,  East  or  West,  shall  be  my 
refuge,"  said  Wayland,  "ere  I  venture  my  life  by  residing 
within  ken  of  Doboobie,  Demetrius,  or  whatever  else  he  calls 
himself  for  the  time." 

"  Well, "  said  Tressilian,  "  this  happens  not  inopportunely. 
I  had  business  for  you  in  Berkshire,  but  in  the  opposite  ex- 
tremity to  the  place  where  thou  art  knoAvn;  and  ere  thou 
hadst  found  out  this  new  reason  for  living  private,  I  had 
settled  to  send  thee  thither  upon  a  secret  embassage." 

The  artist  expressed  himself  willing  to  receive  his  commands, 
and  Tressilian,  knowing  he  was  well  acquainted  with  the  out- 
line of  his  business  at  court,  frankly  explained  to  him  the 
whole,  mentioned  the  agreement  which  subsisted  betwixt 
Giles  Gosling  and  him,  and  told  what  had  that  day  been 
averred  in  the  presence-chamber  by  Varney,  and  supported 
by  Leicester. 

"Thou  seest,"  he  added,  "that,  in  the  circumstances  in 
which  I  am  placed,  it  behoves  me  to  keep  a  narrow  watch  on 
the  motions  of  these  unprincipled  men,  Varney  and  his  com- 
plices, Foster  and  Lamboiu-ne,  as  well  as  on  those  of  my  Lord 
Leicester  himself,  Avho,  I  suspect,  is  partly  a  deceiver,  and 
not  altogether  the  deceived  in  that  matter.  Here  is  my  ruig, 
as  a  pledge  to  Giles  Gosling;  here  is,  besides,  gold,  which 
shall  be  trebled  if  thou  serve  me  faithfully.  Away  down  to 
Cumnor,  and  see  what  happens  there." 

"  I  go  with  double  good- will, "  said  the  artist,  "  first,  because 
I  serve  your  honour,  who  has  been  so  kind  to  me,  and  then, 
that  I  may  escape  my  old  master,  who,  if  not  an  absolute  in- 
carnation of  the  devil,  has,  at  least,  as  much  of  the  demon 
about  him,  in  will,  word,  and  action,  as  ever  polluted  human- 
ity. And  yet  let  him  take  care  of  me.  I  fly  him  now,  as 
heretofore ;  but  if,  like  the  Scottish  wild  cattle, '  I  am  vexed 
by  frequent  pursuit,  I  may  turn  on  him  in  hate  and  despera- 
tion. Will  your  honour  command  my  nag  to  be  saddled? 
I  will  but   give   the  medicine  to  my  lord,  undivided  in  its 

» See  Note  10. 


KENILWORTH.  243 

proper  proportions,  with  a  few  instructions.  His  safety  will 
then  depend  on  the  care  of  his  friends  and  domestics :  for  the 
past  he  is  guarded,  but  let  him  beware  of  the  future," 

Wayland  Smith  accordingly  made  his  farewell  visit  to  the 
Earl  of  Sussex,  dictated  instructions  as  to  his  regimen  and 
precautions  concerning  his  diet,  and  left  Say's  Court  without 
waiting  for  morning. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

The  moment  comes— 
It  is  already  come — when  thou  must  write 
The  absolute  total  of  thy  life's  vast  sum. 
The  constellations  stand  victorious  o'er  thee, 
The  planets  shoot  good  fortune  in  fair  junctions. 
And  tell  thee,  "  Now's  the  time." 

Schiller's  Wallenstein,  by  Coleridge. 

When  Leicester  returned  to  his  lodging,  after  a  day  so  im- 
portant and  so  harassing,  in  which,  after  riding  out  more  than 
one  gale,  and  touching  on  more  than  one  shoal,  his  bark  had 
finally  gained  the  harbour  with  banner  displayed,  he  seemed 
to  experience  as  much  fatigue  as  a  mariner  after  a  perilous 
storm.  He  spoke  not  a  word  while  his  chamberlain  exchanged 
his  rich  court-mantle  for  a  furred  night-robe,  and  when  this 
officer  signified  that  Master  Varney  desired  to  speak  with  his 
lordship,  he  replied  only  by  a  sullen  nod.  Varney,  however, 
entered,  accepting  this  signal  as  a  permission,  and  the  cham- 
berlain withdrew.  The  earl  remained  silent  and  almost 
motionless  in  his  chair,  his  head  reclined  on  his  hand,  and  his 
elbow  resting  on  the  table  which  stood  beside  him,  without 
seeming  to  be  conscious  of  the  entrance  or  of  the  presence  of 
his  confidant.  Varney  waited  for  some  minutes  untU.  he 
should  speak,  desirous  to  know  what  was  the  finally  predomi- 
nant mood  of  a  mind  through  which  so  many  powerful  emo- 
tions had  that  day  taken  their  course.  But  he  waited  on  in 
vain,  for  Leicester  continued  still  silent,  and  the  confidant 
saw  himself  under  the  necessity  of  being  the  first  to  speak. 
"  May  I  congratulate  your  lordship,"  he  said,  "on  the  deserved 


244  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

superiority  you  have  this  day  attained  over  your  most  formi- 
dable rival?" 

Leicester  raised  his  head,  and  answered  sadly,  but  without 
anger,  "  Thou,  Varney,  whose  ready  invention  has  involved  me 
in  a  web  of  most  mean  and  perilous  falsehood,  knowest  best 
what  small  reason  there  is  for  gratulation  on  the  subject." 

"Do  you  blame  me,  my  lord,"  said  Varney,  "for  not  be- 
traying, on  the  first  push,  the  secret  on  which  your  fortunes 
depended,  and  which  you  have  so  oft  and  so  earnestly  recom- 
mended to  my  safe  keeping?  Your  lordship  was  present  in 
person,  and  might  have  contradicted  me  and  ruined  yourself 
by  an  avowal  of  the  truth ;  but  surely  it  was  no  part  of  a  faith- 
ful servant  to  have  done  so  without  your  commands." 

"  I  cannot  deny  it,  Varney, "  said  the  earl,  rising  and  walk- 
ing across  the  room ;  "  my  own  ambition  has  been  traitor  to 
my  love. " 

"  Say,  rather,  my  lord,  that  your  love  has  been  traitor  to 
your  greatness,  and  barred  you  from  such  a  prospect  of  honour 
and  power  as  the  world  cannot  offer  to  any  other.  To  make 
my  honoured  lady  a  countess,  you  have  missed  the  chance  of 
being  yourself " 

He  paused,  and  seemed  unwilling  to  complete  the  sentence. 

"Of  being  myself  ivhat?"  demanded  Leicester;  "speak 
out  thy  meaning,  Varney." 

"Of  being  yourself  a  KING,  my  lord,"  replied  Varney; 
*'  and  King  of  England  to  boot !  It  is  no  treason  to  our  Queen 
to  say  so.  It  would  have  chanced  by  her  obtaining  that 
which  all  true  subjects  wish  her — a  lusty,  noble,  and  gallant 
husband." 

"  Thou  ravest,  Varney, "  answered  Leicester.  "  Besides,  our 
times  have  seen  enough  to  make  men  loathe  the  crown  matri- 
monial which  men  take  from  their  wives'  lap.  There  was 
Darnley  of  Scotland. " 

"He!"  said  Varney — "a  gull,  a  fool,  a  thrice-sodden  ass, 
who  suffered  himself  to  be  fired  off  into  the  air  like  a  rocket 
on  a  rejoicing-day.  Had  Mary  had  the  hap  to  have  wedded 
the  noble  earl  once  destined  to  share  her  throne,  she  had  ex- 
perienced a  husband  of  different  metal  j  and  her  husband  had 


KENILWORTH.  245 

found  in  her  a  wife  as  complying  and  loving  as  the  mate  of 
the  meanest  squire,  who  follows  the  hounds  a-horseback,  and 
holds  her  husband's  bridle  as  he  mounts." 

"It  might  have  been  as  thou  sayest,  Varney,"  said  Leices- 
ter, a  brief  smile  of  self-satisfaction  passing  over  his  anxious 
countenance.  "  Henry  Darnley  knew  little  of  women.  With 
Mary,  a  man  who  knew  her  sex  might  have  had  some  chance 
of  holding  his  own;  but  not  with  Elizabeth,  Varney;  for  I 
think  God,  when  He  gave  her  the  heart  of  a  woman,  gave  her 
the  head  of  a  man  to  control  its  follies.  No,  I  know  her. 
She  will  accept  love-tokens — ay,  and  requite  them  with  the 
like ;  put  sugared  sonnets  in  her  bosom  —  ay,  and  answer 
them  too ;  push  gallantry  to  the  very  verge  where  it  becomes 
exchange  of  affection ;  but  she  write  nil  ultra  to  all  which  is 
to  follow,  and  would  not  barter  one  iota  of  her  own  supreme 
power  for  all  the  alphabet  of  both  Cupid  and  Hymen." 

'■'■  The  better  for  you,  my  lord, "  said  Varney,  "  that  is,  in 
the  case  supposed,  if  such  be  her  disposition ;  since  you  think 
you  cannot  aspire  to  become  her  husband.  Her  favourite  you 
are,  and  may  remain,  if  the  lady  at  Cumnor  Place  continues 
in  her  present  obscurity." 

"  Poor  Amy !"  said  Leicester,  with  a  deep  sigh ;  "  she  desires, 
so  earnestly  to  be  acknowledged  in  presence  of  God  and  man!" 

"  Ay,  but,  my  lord, "  said  Varney,  "  is  her  desire  reason- 
able? that  is  the  question.  Her  religious  scruples  are  solved  t 
she  is  an  honoured  and  beloved  wife,  enjoying  the  society  of 
her  husband  at  such  times  as  his  weightier  duties  permit  him 
to  afford  her  his  company.  "What  would  she  more?  I  am 
right  sure  that  a  lady  so  gentle  and  so  loving  would  consent  to 
live  her  life  through  in  a  certain  obscurity — which  is,  after 
all,  not  dimmer  than  when  she  was  at  Lidcote  Hall — rather 
than  diminish  the  least  jot  of  her  lord's  honours  and  greatness 
by  a  premature  attempt  to  share  them." 

"There  is  something  in  what  thou  say'st,"  said  Leicester j 
*'  and  her  appearance  here  were  fatal.  Yet  she  must  be  seen 
at  Kenilworth:  Elizabeth  will  not  forget  that  she  has  so 
appointed. " 

"  Let  me  sleep  on  that  hard  point, "  said  Varney ;  "  I  cannot 


246  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

else  perfect  the  device  I  liave  on  the  stithy,  which  I  trust  will 
satisfy  the  Queen  and  please  my  honoured  lady,  yet  leave  this 
fatal  secret  where  it  is  now  buried.  Has  your  lordship  further 
commands  for  the  night?" 

"  I  would  be  alone,"  said  Leicester,  "  Leave  me,  and  place 
my  steel  casket  on  the  table.     Be  within  summons." 

Varney  retired;  and  the  earl,  opening  the  window  of  his 
apartment,  looked  out  long  and  anxiously  upon  the  brilliant 
host  of  stars  which  glimmered  in  the  splendour  of  a  summer 
firmament.  The  words  burst  from  him  as  at  unawares — "  I 
had  never  more  need  that  the  heavenly  bodies  should  befriend 
me,  for  my  earthly  path  is  darkened  and  confused." 

It  is  well  known  that  the  age  reposed  a  deep  confidence  in 
the  vain  predictions  of  judicial  astrology,  and  Leicester, 
though  exempt  from  the  general  control  of  superstition,  was 
not  in  this  respect  superior  to  his  time ;  but,  on  the  contrary, 
was  remarkable  for  the  encouragement  which  he  gave  to  the 
professors  of  this  pretended  science.  Indeed,  the  wish  to  pry 
into  futurity,  so  general  among  the  human  race,  is  peculiarly 
to  be  found  amongst  those  who  trade  in  state  mysteries,  and 
the  dangerous  intrigues  and  cabals  of  courts.  With  heedful 
precaution  to  see  that  it  had  not  been  opened,  or  its  locks 
tampered  with,  Leicester  applied  a  key  to  the  steel  casket, 
and  drew  from  it,  first,  a  parcel  of  gold  pieces,  which  he  put 
into  a  silk  purse ;  then  a  parchment  inscribed  with  planetary 
signs,  and  the  lines  and  calculations  used  in  framing  horo- 
scopes, on  which  he  gazed  intently  for  a  few  moments ;  and, 
lastly,  took  forth  a  large  key,  which,  lifting  aside  the  tapestry, 
he  applied  to  a  little  concealed  door  in  the  corner  of  the 
apartment,  and,  opening  it,  disclosed  a  stair  constructed  in  the 
thickness  of  the  wall. 

"  Alasco, "  said  the  earl,  with  a  voice  raised,  yet  no  higher 
raised  than  to  be  heard  by  the  inhabitant  of  the  smaU  tun-et 
to  which  the  stair  conducted — "  Alasco,  I  say,  descend. " 

"I  come,  my  lord,"  answered  a  voice  from  above.  The 
foot  of  an  aged  man  was  heard  slowly  descending  the  narrow 
stair,  and  Alasco  entered  the  earl's  apartment.  The  astrologer 
was  a  little  man,  and  seemed  much  advanced  in  age,  for  his 


KENILWORTH.  247 

beard  was  long  and  white,  and  reached  over  his  black  doublet 
down  to  his  silken  girdle.  His  hair  was  of  the  same  venerable 
hue.  But  his  eyebrows  were  as  dark  as  the  keen  and  piercing 
black  eyes  which  they  shaded,  and  this  peculiarity  gave  a 
wild  and  singular  cast  to  the  physiognomy  of  the  old  man. 
His  cheek  was  still  fresh  and  ruddy,  and  the  eyes  we  have 
mentioned  resembled  those  of  a  rat  in  acuteness,  and  even 
fierceness,  of  expression.  His  manner  was  not  without  a  sort 
of  dignity ;  and  the  interpreter  of  the  stars,  though  respectful, 
seemed  altogether  at  his  ease,  and  even  assumed  a  tone  of  in- 
struction and  command  in  conversing  with  the  prime  favourite 
of  Elizabeth. 

"  Your  i^rognostications  have  failed,  Alasco, "  said  the  earl, 
when  they  had  exchanged  salutations.     "  He  is  recovering." 

"  My  son, "  replied  the  astrologer,  "  let  me  remind  you,  I 
warranted  not  his  death ;  nor  is  there  any  prognostication  that 
can  be  derived  from  the  heavenly  bodies,  their  aspects  and 
their  conjunctions,  which  is  not  liable  to  be  controlled  by  the 
will  of  Heaven.     Astra  regiint  honmies,  sed  reylt  astra  Deus^ 

"Of  what  avail,  then,  is  your  mystery?"  inquired  the  earl. 

"  Of  much,  my  son, "  replied  the  old  man,  "  since  it  can  show 
the  natural  and  probable  course  of  events,  although  that  course 
moves  in  subordination  to  an  Higher  Power.  Thus,  in  review- 
ing the  horoscope  which  your  lordship  subjected  to  my  skill, 
you  will  observe  that  Saturn,  being  in  the  sixth  house  in  op- 
position to  Mars,  retrograde  in  the  House  of  Life,  cannot  but 
denote  long  and  dangerous  sickness,  the  issue  whereof  is  in  the 
will  of  Heaven,  though  death  may  probably  be  inferred.  Yet, 
if  I  knew  the  name  of  the  party,  I  would  erect  another 
scheme. " 

"His  name  is  a  secret,"  said  the  earl;  "yet,  I  must  own, 
thy  prognostication  hath  not  been  unfaithful.  He  has  been 
sick,  and  dangerously  so — not,  however,  to  death.  But  hast 
thou  again  cast  my  horoscope,  as  Varney  directed  thee,  and 
art  thou  prepared  to  say  what  the  stars  tell  of  my  present 
fortune?" 

"  My  art  stands  at  your  command, "  said  the  old  man,  "  and 
here,  my  sou,  is  the  map  of  thy  fortimes,  brilliant  in  aspect 


248  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

as  e'-'er  beamed  from  those  blessed  signs  whereby  our  life  is 
influenced,  yet  not  unchequered  with  fears,  difficulties,  and 
dangers." 

"  My  lot  were  more  than  mortal  were  it  otherwise, "  said  the 
earl ;  "  proceed,  father,  and  believe  you  speak  with  one  ready 
to  undergo  his  destiny  in  action  and  in  passion  as  may  beseem 
a  noble  of  England." 

"  Thy  courage  to  do  and  to  suffer  must  be  wound  up  yet  a 
strain  higher, "  said  the  old  man.  "  The  stars  intimate  yet  a 
prouder  title,  yet  an  higher  rank.  It  is  for  thee  to  guess  their 
meaning,  not  for  me  to  name  it." 

"Name  it,  I  conjure  you — name  it,  I  command  you,"  said 
the  earl,  his  eyes  brightening  as  he  spoke. 

"  I  may  not,  and  I  will  not, "  replied  the  old  man.  "  The 
ire  of  princes  is  as  the  wrath  of  the  lion.  But  mark,  and 
judge  for  thyself.  Here  Venus,  ascendant  in  the  House  of 
Life,  and  conjoined  with  Sol,  showers  down  that  flood  of  silver 
light,  blent  with  gold,  which  promises  power,  wealth,  dignity, 
all  that  the  proud  heart  of  man  desires,  and  in  such  abundance, 
that  never  the  future  Augustus  of  that  old  and  mighty  Rome 
heard  from  his  haruspices  such  a  tale  of  glory  as  from  this 
rich  text  my  lore  might  read  to  my  favourite  son." 

"  Thou  dost  but  jest  with  me,  father,"  said  the  earl,  aston- 
ished at  the  strain  of  enthusiasm  in  which  the  astrologer 
delivered  his  prediction. 

"  Is  it  for  him  to  jest  who  hath  his  eye  on  heaven,  who  hath 
his  foot  in  the  grave?"  returned  the  old  man,  solemnly. 

The  earl  made  two  or  three  strides  through  the  apartment, 
with  his  hand  outstretched,  as  one  who  follows  the  beckoning 
signal  of  some  phantom,  waving  him  on  to  deeds  of  high  im- 
port. As  he  turned,  however,  he  caught  the  eye  of  the  as- 
trologer fixed  on  him,  while  an  observing  glance  of  the  most 
shrewd  jDenetration  shot  from  under  the  penthouse  of  his 
shaggy  dark  eyebrows.  Leicester's  haughty  and  suspicious 
«oul  at  once  caught  fire;  he  darted  towards  the  old  man  from 
the  further  end  of  the  lofty  apartment,  only  standing  still 
when  his  extended  hand  was  within  a  foot  of  the  astrologer's 
fcody. 


KENILWORTH.  249 

''TVretcli!"  lie  .said,  "if  you  dare  to  palter  witli  me,  I  will 
have  your  skin  stripped  from  your  living  flesh !  Confess  thou 
hast  been  hired  to  deceive  and  to  betray  me — that  thou  art  a 
cheat,  and  I  thy  silly  prey  and  booty!" 

The  old  man  exhibited  some  symptoms  of  emotion,  but  not 
more  than  the  furious  deportment  of  his  patron  might  have 
extorted  from  innocence  itseK. 

"  What  means  this  violence,  my  lord?"  he  answered,  "or  in 
what  can  I  have  deserved  it  at  your  hand?" 

"  Give  me  proof, "  said  the  earl,  vehemently,  "  that  you  have 
not  tampered  with  mine  enemies." 

"My  lord,"  replied  the  old  man,  with  dignity,  "you  can 
have  no  better  proof  than  that  which  you  yourself  elected.  In 
that  turret  I  have  spent  the  last  twenty-four  hours,  under  the 
key  which  has  been  in  your  own  custody.  The  hours  of  dark- 
ness I  have  spent  in  gazing  on  the  heavenly  bodies  with  these 
dim  eyes,  and  during  those  of  light  I  have  toiled  this  aged 
brain  to  complete  the  calculations  arising  from  their  combina- 
tions. Earthly  food  I  have  not  tasted — earthly  voice  I  have 
not  heard.  You  are  yourself  aware  I  had  no  means  of  doing- 
so;  and  yet  I  tell  you — I  who  have  been  thus  shut  up  in  soli- 
tude and  study — that  within  these  twenty-four  hours  your  star 
has  become  predominant  in  the  horizon,  and  either  the  bright 
book  of  heaven  speaks  false  or  there  must  have  been  a  propor- 
tionate revolution  in  your  fortunes  upon  earth.  If  nothing 
has  happened  within  that  space  to  secure  your  power  or  ad- 
vance your  favour,  then  am  I  indeed  a  cheat,  and  the  divine- 
art,  which  was  first  devised  in  the  plains  of  Chaldea,  is  a  foul 
imposture." 

"It  is  true,"  said  Leicester,  after  a  moment's  reflection, 
"  thou  wert  closely  immured,  and  it  is  also  true  that  the  change 
has  taken  place  in  my  situation  which  thou  say'st  the  horo- 
scope indicates." 

"Wherefore  this  distrust,  then,  my  son?"  said  the  astrologer, 
assuming  a  tone  of  admonition;  "the  celestial  intelligences 
brook  not  diffidence,  even  in  their  favourite." 

"Peace,  father,"  answered  Leicester,  "I  have  erred  in 
doubting  thee.     Not  to  mortal  man,  nor  to  celestial  intelli- 


250  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

gence — under  that  whicli  is  supreme — will  Dudley's  lips  say 
more  in  condescension  or  apology.  Speak  rather  to  the  pres- 
ent purpose.  Amid  these  bright  promises,  thou  hast  said 
there  was  a  threatening  aspect.  Can  thy  skill  tell  whence, 
or  by  whose  means,  such  danger  seems  to  impend?" 

"  Thus  far  only,"  answered  the  astrologer,  "  does  my  art  en- 
able me  to  answer  your  query.  The  infortune  is  threatened 
by  the  malignant  and  adverse  aspect,  through  means  of  a  youth, 
and,  as  I  think,  a  rival;  but  whether  in  love  or  in  prince's 
favour,  I  know  not ;  nor  can  I  give  farther  indication  respect- 
ing him,  save  that  he  comes  from  the  western  quarter." 

"The  western— ha!"  replied  Leicester,  "it  is  enough;  the 
tempest  does  indeed  brew  in  that  quarter.  Cornwall  and 
Devon — Ealeigh  and  Tressilian — one  of  them  is  indicated ;  I 
must  beware  of  both.  Father,  if  I  have  done  thy  skill  injus- 
tice, I  will  make  thee  a  lordly  recompense." 

He  took  a  purse  of  gold  from  the  strong  casket  which  stood 
before  him.  "  Have  thou  double  the  recompense  which  Var- 
ney  promised.  Be  faithful — be  secret — obey  the  directions 
thou  shalt  receive  from  my  master  of  the  horse,  and  grudge 
not  a  little  seclusion  or  restraint  in  my  cause ;  it  shall  be  rich- 
ly considered.  Here,  Varney,  conduct  this  venerable  man  to 
thine  own  lodging ;  tend  him  heedf ully  in  all  things,  but  see 
that  he  holds  communications  with  no  one." 

Varney  bowed,  and  the  astrologer  kissed  the  earl's  hand  in 
token  of  adieu,  and  followed  the  master  of  the  horse  to  another 
apartment,  in  which  were  placed  wine  and  refreshments  for 
his  use. 

The  astrologer  sat  down  to  his  repast,  while  Varney  shut 
two  doors  with  great  precaution,  examined  the  tapestry,  lest 
any  listener  lurked  behind  it ;  and  then  sitting  down  opposite 
to  the  sage,  began  to  question  him. 

"  Saw  you  my  signal  from  the  court  beneath?" 

"  I  did, "  said  Alasco,  for  by  such  name  he  was  at  present 
called,  "  and  shaped  the  horoscope  accordingly." 

"And  it  passed  upon  the  patron  without  challenge?"  con- 
tinued Varney. 

"  Not  without  challenge, "  replied  the  old  man,  "  but  it  did 


KENILWORTH.  251 

pass ;  and  I  added,  as  before  agreed,  danger  from  a  discovered 
secret  and  a  western  youth. " 

"  My  lord's  fear  will  stand  a  sponsor  to  the  one  and  his  con- 
science to  the  other  of  these  prognostications,"  replied  Vamey. 
"  Sure,  never  na.an  chose  to  run  such  a  race  as  this,  yet  con- 
tinued to  retain  those  silly  scruples !  I  am  fain  to  cheat  him 
to  his  own  profit.  But  touching  your  matters,  sage  interpreter 
of  the  stars,  I  can  tell  you  more  of  your  own  fortune  than  plan 
or  figure  can  show.     You  must  be  gone  from  hence  forthwith." 

"  I  will  not, "  said  Alasco,  peevishly.  "  I  have  been  too 
much  hurried  up  and  down  of  late — immured  for  day  and  night 
in  a  desolate  turret-chamber ;  I  must  enjoy  my  liberty,  and 
pursue  my  studies,  which  are  of  more  import  than  the  fate  of 
fifty  statesmen  and  favourites,  that  rise  and  burst  like  bubbles 
in  the  atmosphere  of  a  court." 

"  At  your  pleasure, "  said  Vamey,  with  a  sneer  which  habit 
had  rendered  familiar  to  his  features,  and  which  forms  the 
principal  characteristic  that  painters  have  assigned  to  those  of 
Satan — "at  your  pleasure,"  he  said;  "you  may  enjoy  your 
liberty  and  your  studies  until  the  daggers  of  Sussex's  followers 
are  clashing  within  your  doublet,  and  against  your  ribs. "  The 
old  man  turned  pale,  and  Vamey  proceeded.  "  Wot  j^ou  not 
he  hath  offered  a  reward  for  the  arch-quack  and  poison-vender, 
Demetrius,  who  sold  certain  precious  spice  to  his  lordship's 
cook?  What!  turn  you  pale,  old  friend?  Does  Hali  already 
see  an  infortune  in  the  House  of  Life?  Why,  hark  thee,  we 
will  have  thee  down  to  an  old  house  of  mine  in  the  country, 
where  thou  shalt  live  with  a  hobnailed  slave,  whom  thy  alchemy 
may  convert  into  ducats,  for  to  such  conversion  alone  is  thy 
art  serviceable." 

"  It  is  false,  thou  foul-mouthed  railer, "  said  Alasco,  shak- 
ing Avith  impotent  anger :  "  it  is  well  kno^vTi  that  I  have  ap- 
proached more  nearly  to  projection  than  any  hermetic  artist 
who  now  lives.  There  are  not  six  chemists  in  the  world  who 
possess  so  near  an  approximation  to  the  grand  arcanum " 

"Come — come,"  said  Varney,  interrupting  him,  "what 
means  this,  in  the  name  of  Heaven?  Do  we  not  know  one 
another?     I  believe  thee  to  be  so  perfect — so  very  perfect,  in 


252  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

the  mystery  of  cheating,  that,  having  imposed  upon  all  man- 
kind, thou  hast  at  length,  in  some  measure,  imposed  upon  thy- 
seK;  and  without  ceasing  to  dupe  others,  hast  become  a  species 
of  dupe  to  thine  own  imagination.  Blush  not  for  it,  manj 
thou  art  learned,  and  shalt  have  classical  comfort : 

Ne  quisquam  Ajacem  possit  superare  nisi  Ajax. 

No  one  but  thyself  could  have  gulled  thee,  and  thou  hast  gulled 
the  whole  brotherhood  of  the  Rosy  Cross  beside — none  so  deep 
in  the  mystery  as  thou.  But  hark  thee  in  thine  ear :  had  the 
seasoning  which  spiced  Sussex's  broth  wrought  more  surely,  I 
would  have  thought  better  of  the  chemical  science  thou  dost 
boast  so  highly." 

"Thou  art  l^an  hardened  villain,  Varney,"  replied  Alasco; 
^'many  will  do  those  things,  who  dare  not  speak  of  them." 

"  And  many  speak  of  them  who  dare  not  do  them, "  answered 
Varney ;  "  but  be  not  wroth — I  will  not  quarrel  with  thee.  If 
I  did,  I  were  fain  to  live  on  eggs  for  a  month,  that  I  might 
feed  without  fear.  Tell  me  at  once,  how  came  thine  art  to 
fail  thee  at  this  great  emergency?" 

"The  Earl  of  Sussex's  horoscope  intimates,"  replied  the 
■astrologer,  "  that  the  sign  of  the  ascendant  being  in  combus- 
tion  " 

"Away  with  your  gibberish,"  replied  Varney;  "think'st 
thou  it  is  the  patron  thou  speak'st  with?" 

"  I  crave  your  pardon, "  replied  the  old  man,  "  and  swear  to 
you,  I  know  but  one  medicine  that  could  have  saved  the  earl's 
life ;  and  as  no  man  living  in  England  knows  that  antidote 
save  myself ;  moreover,  as  the  ingredients,  one  of  them  in  par- 
ticular, are  scarce  possible  to  be  come  by,  I  must  needs  suppose 
his  escape  was  owing  to  such  a  constitution  of  lungs  and  vital 
parts  as  was  never  before  bound  up  in  a  body  of  clay." 

"  There  was  some  talk  of  a  quack  who  waited  on  him, "  said 
Varney,  after  a  moment's  reflection.  "Are  you  sure  there  is 
no  one  in  England  who  has  this  secret  of  thine?" 

"  One  man  there  was, "  said  the  doctor,  "  once  my  servant, 
who  might  have  stolen  this  of  me,  with  one  or  two  other 
secrets  of  art.     But  content  you,  Master  Varney,  it  is  no  part 


KENILWORTH.  253 

of  my  policy  to  suffer  such  iuterlopers  to  interfere  in  my  trade. 
He  pries  into  no  mysteries  more,  I  warrant  you  j  for,  as  I^well 
believe,  lie  hath  been  wafted  to  heaven  on  the  wing  of  a  fiery 
dragon.  Peace  be  with  him !  But  in  this  retreat  of  mine,  I 
shall  have  the  use  of  mine  elaboratory?" 

"  Of  a  whole  workshop,  man, "  said  Varney ;  "  for  a  reverend 
father  abbot,  who  was  fain  to  give  place  to  bluff  King  Hal 
and  some  of  his  courtiers  a  score  of  years  since,  had  a  chemist's 
complete  apparatus,  which  he  was  obliged  to  leave  behind 
him  to  his  successors.  Thou  shalt  there  occupy,  and  melt, 
and  puff,  and  blaze,  and  multiply,  until  the  green  dragon  be- 
come a  golden  goose,  or  whatever  the  newer  phrase  of  the 
brotherhood  may  testify." 

"  Thou  art  right,  Master  Varney, "  said  the  alchemist,  setting 
his  teeth  close  and  grinding  them  together — "  thou  art  right, 
even  in  thy  very  contempt  of  right  and  reason.  For  what 
thou  say'st  in  mockery  may  in  sober  verity  chance  to  happen 
ere  we  meet  again.  If  the  most  venerable  sages  of  ancient 
days  have  spoken  the  truth ;  if  the  most  learned  of  our  own 
have  rightly  received  it ;  if  I  have  been  accepted  wherever  I 
travelled,  in  Germany,  in  Poland,  in  Italy,  and  in  the  farther 
Tartary,  as  one  to  whom  nature  has  imveiled  her  darkest 
secrets ;  if  I  have  acquired  the  most  secret  signs  and  passwords 
«f  the  Jewish  Cabala,  so  that  the  greyest  beard  in  the  sjma- 
gogue  would  brush  the  steps  to  make  them  clean  for  me — if 
all  this  is  so,  and  if  there  remains  but  one  step — one  little 
step — betwixt  my  long,  deep,  and  dark,  and  subterranean 
progress  and  that  blaze  of  light  which  shall  show  nature 
"watching  her  richest  and  her  most  glorious  productions  in 
the  very  cradle — one  step  betwixt  dependence  and  the  power 
of  sovereignty — one  step  betwixt  poverty  and  such  a  sum  of 
wealth  as  earth,  without  that  noble  secret,  cannot  minister 
from  all  her  mines  in  the  old  or  the  new-found  world — if  this 
be  all  so,  is  it  not  reasonable  that  to  this  I  dedicate  my  future 
life,  secure,  for  a  brief  period  of  studious  patience,  to  rise 
above  the  mean  dependence  upon  favourites  and  their  favour- 
ites by  which  I  am  now  enthralled?" 

"  Now,  bravo ! — bravo !  my  good  father, "  said  Varney,  with. 


254  WAVERLET  NOVELS. 

the  usual  sardonic  expression  of  ridicule  on  his  countenance; 
"  yet  all  this  approximation  to  the  philosopher's  stone  wringeth 
not  one  single  crown  out  of  my  Lord  Leicester's  pouch,  and 
far  less  out  of  Eichard  Varney's.  We  must  have  earthly  and 
substantial  services,  man,  and  care  not  whom  else  thou  canst 
delude  with  thy  philosophical  charlatanry. " 

"My  son  Varney,"  said  the  alchemist,  "the  im belief,  gath- 
ered around  thee  like  a  frost-fog,  hath  dimmed  thine  acute 
perception  to  that  which  is  a  stumbling-block  to  the  wise,  and 
which  yet,  to  him  who  seeketh  knowledge  with  humility,  ex- 
tends a  lesson  so  clear  that  he  who  runs  may  read.  Hath  not 
art,  think' st  thou,  the  means  of  completing  nature's  imperfect 
concoctions  in  her  attempts  to  form  the  precious  metals,  even 
as  by  art  we  can  perfect  those  other  operations,  of  incubation, 
distillation,  fermentation,  and  similar  processes  of  an  ordinary 
description,  by  which  we  extract  life  itseK  out  of  a  senseless 
egg,  summon  purity  and  vitality  out  of  muddy  dregs,  or  call 
into  vivacity  the  inert  substance  of  a  sluggish  liquid?" 

"  I  have  heard  all  this  before, "  said  Varney,  "  and  my  heart 
is  proof  against  such  cant  ever  since  I  sent  twenty  good  gold 
pieces — marry,  it  was  in  the  nonage  of  my  wit — to  advance 
the  grand  magisterium,  all  which,  God  help  the  while,  van- 
ished infimio.  Since  that  moment,  when  I  paid  for  my  free- 
dom, I  defy  chemistry,  astrology,  palmistry,  and  every  other 
occult  art,  were  it  as  secret  as  hell  itself,  to  unloose  the  stric- 
ture of  my  purse-strings.  Marry,  I  neither  defy  the  manna  of 
St.  Nicholas  nor  can  I  dispense  with  it.  Thy  first  task  must 
be  to  prepare  some  when  thou  get'st  down  to  my  little  sequest- 
ered retreat  yonder,  and  then  make  as  much  gold  as  thou  wilt." 

"  I  will  make  no  more  of  that  dose, "  said  the  alchemist, 
resolutely. 

"  Then, "  said  the  master  of  the  horse,  *'  thou  shalt  be  hanged 
for  what  thou  hast  made  already,  and  so  were  the  great  secret 
for  ever  lost  to  mankind.  Do  not  humanity  this  injustice, 
good  father,  but  e'en  bend  to  thy  destiny,  and  make  us  an 
ounce  or  two  of  this  same  stuff,  which  cannot  prejudice  above 
one  or  two  individuals,  in  order  to  gain  lifetime  to  discover 
the  imiversal  medicine,  which  shall  clear  away  all  mortal  dis- 


KENIL  WORTH.  255 

eases  at  once.  But  cheer  up,  tliou  grave,  learned,  and  most 
melancholy  j  ackanapes !  Hast  thou  not  told  me  that  a  moderate 
portion  of  thy  drug  hath  mild  effects,  no  ways  ultimately  dan- 
gerous to  the  human  frame,  but  which  produces  depression  of 
spirits,  nausea,  headache,  an  unwillingness  to  change  of  place — • 
even  such  a  state  of  temper  as  would  keep  a  bird  from  flying 
out  of  a  cage  were  the  door  left  open?" 

"  I  have  said  so,  and  it  is  true, "  said  the  alchemist ;  "  this 
effect  will  it  produce,  and  the  bird  who  partakes  of  it  in  such 
proportion  shall  sit  for  a  season  drooping  on  her  perch,  with- 
out thinking  either  of  the  free  blue  sky  or  of  the  fair  green- 
wood, though  the  one  be  lighted  by  the  rays  of  the  rising  sun 
and  the  other  ringing  with  the  newly  awakened  song  of  all  the 
feathered  inhabitants  of  the  forest. " 

'•And  this  without  danger  to  life?"  said  Varney,  somewhat 
anxiously. 

"Ay,  so  that  proportion  and  measure  be  not  exceeded;  and 
so  that  one  who  knows  the  nature  of  the  manna  be  ever  near 
to  watch  the  symptoms,  and  succour  in  case  of  need." 

"  Thou  shalt  regulate  the  whole, "  said  Varney ;  "  thy  reward 
shall  be  princely,  if  thou  keepest  time  and  touch,  and  exceed- 
est  not  the  due  proportion,  to  the  prejudice  of  her  health; 
otherwise  thy  punishment  shall  be  as  signal." 

"The  prejudice  of  her  health!"  repeated  Alasco;  "it  is, 
then,  a  woman  I  am  to  use  my  skill  upon?" 

"  No,  thou  fool, "  replied  Varney ;  "  said  I  not  it  was  a  bird — 
a  reclaimed  linnet,  whose  pipe  might  soothe  a  hawk  when  in 
mid  stoop?  I  see  thine  eye  sparkle,  and  I  know  thy  beard  is 
not  altogether  so  white  as  art  has  made  it :  that,  at  least,  thou 
hast  been  able  to  transmute  to  silver.  But  mark  me,  this  is 
no  mate  for  thee.  This  caged  bird  is  dear  to  one  who  brooks 
no  rivalry,  and  fax  less  such  rivalry  as  thine,  and  her  health 
must  over  all  things  be  cared  for.  But  she  is  in  the  case 
of  being  commanded  down  to  yonder  Kenilworth  revels; 
and  it  is  most  expedient — most  needful — most  necessary  that 
she  fly  not  thither.  Of  these  necessities  and  their  causes 
it  is  not  needful  that  she  should  know  aught,  and  it  is  to 
be  thought  that  her  own  wish  may  lead  her  to  combat  all 


256  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

ordinary  reasons  which  can  be  urged  for   her  remaining  a 
housekeepei;  " 

"  That  is  but  natural, "  said  the  alchemist,  with  a  strange 
smile,  which  yet  bore  a  greater  reference  to  the  human  char- 
acter than  the  uninterested  and  abstracted  gaze  which  his 
physiognomy  had  hitherto  expressed,  where  all  seemed  to  refer 
to  some  world  distant  from  that  which  was  existing  around  him. 

"It  is  so,"  answered  Varney:  "you  understand  women 
well,  though  it  may  have  been  long  since  you  were  conversant 
amongst  them.  Well,  then,  she  is  not  to  be  contradicted,  yet 
she  is  not  to  be  humoured.  Understand  me — a  slight  illness, 
sufficient  to  take  away  the  desire  of  removing  from  thence,  and 
to  make  such  of  your  wise  fraternity  as  may  be  called  in  to  aid 
recommend  a  quiet  residence  at  home,  will,  in  one  word,  be 
esteemed  good  service,  and  remunerated  as  such." 

"  I  am  not  to  be  asked  to  affect  the  House  of  Life?"  said 
the  chemist. 

"  On  the  contrary,  we  will  have  thee  hanged  if  thou  dost," 
replied  Varney. 

"  And  I  must, "  added  Alasco,  "  have  opportunity  to  do  my 
turn,  and  all  facilities  for  concealment  for  escape,  should  there 
be  detection?" 

"  All — all,  and  everything,  thou  infidel  in  all  but  the  im- 
possibilities of  alchemy.  Why,  man,  or  what  dost  thou  take 
me?" 

The  old  man  rose,  and  taking  a  light,  walked  towards  the 
end  of  the  apartment,  where  was  a  door  that  led  to  the  small 
sleeping-room  destined  for  his  reception  during  the  night.  At 
the  door  he  turned  round,  and  slowly  repeated  Varney' s  ques- 
tion ere  he  answered  it.  "  For  what  do  I  take  thee,  Richard 
Varney?  Why,  for  a  worse  devil  than  I  have  been  myself. 
But  I  am  in  your  toils,  and  I  must  serve  you  till  my  term  be 
out." 

"  Well — well, "  answered  Varney,  hastily,  "  be  stirring  with 
grey  light.     It  may  be  we  shall  not  need  thy  medicine.     Do 
nought  till  I  myself  come  down.     Michael  Lambourne  shall 
guide  you  to  the  place  of  your  destination."  ' 
» See  Dr.  Julio.    Note  11. 


KENILWORTH.  257 

Wlieii  Varney  heard  the  adept's  door  shut  and  carefully 
bolted  within,  he  stepped  towards  it,  and  with  similar  precau- 
tion carefully  locked  it  on  the  outside,  and  took  the  key  from 
the  lock,  muttering  to  himself,  ""Worse  than  thee,  thou  poison- 
ing quacksalver  and  witch-monger,  who,  if  thou  art  not  a 
bounden  slave  to  the  devil,  it  is  only  because  he  disdains  such 
an  apprentice !  I  am  a  mortal  man,  and  seek  by  mortal  means 
the  gratification  of  my  passions  and  advancement  of  my  pros- 
pects. Thou  art  a  vassal  of  hell  itself.  So  ho,  Lambourne!" 
he  called  at  another  door,  and  Michael  made  his  appearance, 
with  a  flushed  cheek  and  an  unsteady  step. 

" Thou  art  drunk,  thou  villain!"  said  Varney  to  him. 

"Doubtless,  noble  sir,"  replied  the  unabashed  Michael, 
*'  we  have  been  drinking  all  even  to  the  glories  of  the  day,  and 
to  my  noble  Lord  of  Leicester,  and  his  valiant  master  of  the 
horse.  Drunk !  odds  blades  and  poniards,  he  that  would  re- 
fuse to  swallow  a  dozen  healths  on  such  an  evening  is  a  base 
besognio  and  a  puckfist,  and  shall  swallow  six  inches  of  my 
dagger!" 

"Hark  ye,  scoundrel,"  said  Varney,  "be  sober  on  the  in- 
stant, I  command  thee.  I  know  thou  canst  throw  off  thy 
drunken  folly,  like  a  fool's  coat,  at  pleasure ;  and  if  not,  it 
were  the  worse  for  thee." 

Lambourne  drooped  his  head,  left  the  apartment,  and  re- 
turned in  two  or  three  minutes  with  his  face  composed,  his 
hair  adjusted,  his  dress  in  order,  and  exhibiting  as  great  a 
difference  from  his  former  self  as  if  the  whole  man  had  been 
changed. 

"Art  thou  sober  now,  and  dost  thou  comprehend  me?"  said 
Varney,  sternly. 

Lambourne  bowed  in  acquiescence. 

"Thou  must  presently  down  to  Cumnor  Place  with  the 
reverend  man  of  art  who  sleeps  yonder  in  the  little  vaulted 
chamber.  Here  is  the  key,  that  thou  mayst  call  him  betimes. 
Take  another  trusty  fellow  with  you.  Use  him  well  on  the 
journey,  but  let  him  not  escape  you ;  pistol  him  if  he  attempt 
it,  and  I  will  be  your  warrant.  I  will  give  thee  letters  to 
Foster.  The  doctor  is  to  occupy  the  lower  apartments  of  the 
17 


258  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

eastern  quadrangle,  with,  freedom  to  use  the  old  elaboratory 
and  its  implements.  He  is  to  have  no  access  to  the  lady,  but 
Buch  as  I  shall  point  out — only  she  may  be  amused  to  see  his 
philosophical  jugglery.  Thou  wilt  wait  at  Cumnor  Place  my 
fai'ther  orders;  and,  as  thou  livest,  beware  of  the  ale-bench 
and  the  aquavitse  flask.  Each  breath  drawn  in  Cumnor  Place 
must  be  kept  severed  from  common  air." 

"  Enough,  my  lord — I  mean  my  worshipful  master — soon, 
I  trust,  to  be  my  worshipful  knightly  master.  You  have 
given  me  my  lesson  and  my  license ;  I  will  execute  the  one, 
and  not  abuse  the  other.  I  will  be  in  the  saddle  by  day- 
break." 

"  Do  so,  and  deserve  favour.  Stay — ere  thou  goest,  fill  me 
a  cup  of  wine ;  not  out  of  that  flask,  sirrah, "  as  Lambourne 
was  pouring  out  from  that  which  Alasco  had  left  half  finished, 
"fetch  me  a  fresh  one." 

Lambourne  obeyed,  and  Vaxney,  after  rinsing  his  mouth 
with  the  liquor,  drank  a  full  cup,  and  said,  as  he  took  up  a 
lamp  to  retreat  to  his  sleeping-apartment:  "It  is  strange — I 
am  as  little  the  slave  of  fancy  as  any  one,  yet  I  never  speak 
for  a  few  minutes  with  this  fellow  Alasco,  but  my  mouth  and 
lungs  feel  as  if  soiled  with  the  fumes  of  calcined  arsenic — pah!" 

So  saying,  he  left  the  apartment.  Lambourne  lingered,  to 
drink  a  cup  of  the  freshly  opened  flask.  "It  is  from  St. 
John's  Berg!"  he  said,  as  he  paused  on  the  draught  to  enjoy 
its  flavour,  "  and  has  the  true  relish  of  the  violet.  But  I  nmst 
forbear  it  now,  that  I  may  one  day  drink  it  at  my  own  pleas- 
ure." And  he  quaffed  a  goblet  of  water  to  quench  the  fiimes 
of  the  Ehenish  wine,  retired  slowly  towards  the  door,  made  a 
pause,  and  then,  finding  the  temptation  irresistible,  walked 
hastily  back,  and  took  another  long  pull  at  the  wine-flask, 
without  the  formality  of  a  cup. 

"  Were  it  not  for  this  accursed  custom, "  he  said,  "  I  might 
climb  as  high  as  Vamey  himself.  But  who  can  climb  when 
the  room  turns  round  with  him  like  a  parish-top?  I  would 
the  distance  were  greater,  or  the  road  rougher,  betwixt  my 
hand  and  mouth !  But  I  will  drink  nothing  to-morrow  save 
water — nothing  save  fair  water." 


KENILWORTH.  259 


CHAPTER   XIX. 

Pistol.  And  tidings  do  I  bring,  and  lucky  joys, 
And  happy  news  of  price. 

Falstaff.  I  prithee  now,  deliver  them  like  to  a  man  of  this  world. 

Pistol.  A  foutra  for  the  world,  and  worldlings  base ! 
I  speak  of  Africa,  and  golden  joys. 

Benry  IV.  Part  II. 

The  puMic  room  of  the  Black  Bear  at  Cumnor,  to  which 
the  scene  of  our  story  now  returns,  boasted,  on  the  evening 
which  we  treat  of,  no  ordinary  assemblage  of  guests.  There 
had  been  a  fair  in  the  neighbourhood,  and  the  cutting  mercer 
of  Abingdon,  with  some  of  the  other  personages  whom  the 
reader  has  already  been  made  acquainted  with,  as  friends  and 
customers  of  Giles  Gosling,  had  already  formed  their  wonted 
circle  around  the  evening  fire,  and  were  talking  over  the  news 
of  the  day. 

A  lively,  bustlmg,  arch  fellow,  whose  pack  and  oaken  ell- 
wand, studded  duly  with  brass  points,  denoted  him  to  be  of 
Autolycus's  profession,  occupied  a  good  deal  of  the  attention, 
and  furnished  much  of  the  amusement,  of  the  evening.  The 
pedlars  of  those  days,  it  must  be  remembered,  were  men  of 
far  greater  importance  than  the  degenerate  and  degraded 
hawkers  of  our  modern  times.  It  was  by  means  of  these 
peripatetic  venders  that  the  country  trade,  in  the  finer  manu- 
factures used  in  female  dress  particularly,  was  almost  entirely 
carried  on ;  and  if  a  merchant  of  this  description  arrived  at  the 
dignity  of  travelling  with  a  pack-horse,  he  was  a  person  of  no 
small  consequence,  and  company  for  the  most  substantial 
yeoman  or  franklin  whom  he  might  meet  in  his  wanderings. 

The  pedlar  of  whom  we  speak  bore,  accordingly,  an  active 
and  unrebuked  share  in  the  merriment  to  which  the  rafters  of 
the  bonny  Black  Bear  of  Cumnor  resounded.  He  had  his 
smile  with  pretty  Mistress  Cicely,  his  broad  laugh  with  mine 
host,  and  his  jest  upon  dashing  INIaster  Goldthred,  who, 
though  indeed  without  any  such  benevolent  intention  on  his 
own  part,  was  the  general  butt  of  the  evening.     The  pedlar 


260  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

and  he  were  closely  engaged  in  a  dispute  upon  the  preference 
due  to  the  Spanish  nether-stocks  over  the  black  Gascoigne 
hose,  and  mine  host  had  just  winked  to  the  guests  around  hiin, 
as  who  should  say,  "  You  will  have  mirth  presently,  my  mas- 
ters, "  when  the  trampling  of  horses  was  heard  in  the  court- 
yard, and  the  hostler  was  loudly  summoned,  with  a  few  of 
the  newest  oaths  then  in  vogue  to  add  force  to  the  invocation. 
Out  tumbled  Will  Hostler,  John  Tapster,  and  all  the  militia 
of  the  inn,  who  had  slunk  from  their  posts  in  order  to  collect 
some  scattered  crumbs  of  the  mirth  which  was  flying  about 
among  the  customers.  Out  into  the  yard  sallied  mine  host 
himself  also,  to  do  fitting  salutation  to  his  new  guests ;  and 
presently  returned,  ushering  into  the  apartment  his  own 
worthy  nephew,  Michael  Lambourne,  pretty  tolerably  drunk, 
and  having  under  his  escort  the  astrologer.  Alasco,  though 
still  a  little  old  man,  had,  by  altering  his  gown  to  a  riding- 
dress,  trimming  his  beard  and  eyebrows,  and  so  forth,  struck 
at  least  a  score  of  years  from  his  apparent  age,  and  might  now 
seem  an  active  man  of  sixty,  or  little  upwards.  He  appeared 
at  present  exceedingly  anxious,  and  had  insisted  much  with 
Lambourne  that  they  should  not  enter  the  inn,  but  go  straight 
forward  to  the  place  of  their  destination.  But  Lambourne 
would  not  be  controlled.  "By  Cancer  and  Capricorn,"  he 
vociferated,  "and  the  whole  heavenly  host — besides  all  the 
stars  that  these  blessed  eyes  of  mine  have  seen  sparkle  m  the 
southern  heavens,  to  which  these  northern  blinkers  are  but 
farthing  candles — I  will  be  unkindly  for  no  one's  humour — 
I  will  stay  and  salute  my  worthy  uncle  here.  Chesu !  that 
good  blood  should  ever  be  forgotten  betwixt  friends !  A  gal- 
lon of  your  best,  uncle,  and  let  it  go  round  to  the  health  of  the 
noble  Earl  of  Leicester!  What!  shall  we  not  collogue  to- 
gether, and  warm  the  cockles  of  our  ancient  kindness?  Shall 
we  not  collogue,  I  say?" 

"  With  all  my  heart,  kinsman, "  said  mine  host,  who  obvi- 
ously wished  to  be  rid  of  him ;  "  but  are  you  to  stand  shot  to 
all  this  good  liquor?" 

This  is  a  question  has  quelled  many  a  jovial  toper,  but  it 
moved  not  the  purpose  of  Lambourne's  soul.     "Question  my 


KENILWORTH.  261 

means,  nuncle?"  lie  said,  producing  a  handful  of  mixed  gold 
and  silver  pieces — "  question  Mexico  and  Peru — question  the 
■Queen's  exchequer — God  save  her  Majesty!  She  is  my  good 
lord's  good  mistress." 

"Well,  kinsman,"  said  mine  host,  "it  is  my  business  to  sell 
wine  to  those  who  can  buy  it.  So,  Jack  Tapster,  do  me  thine 
office.  But  I  would  I  knew  how  to  come  by  money  as  lightly 
as  thou  dost,  Mike." 

"  Why,  uncle, "  said  Lambourne,  "  I  will  tell  thee  a  secret. 
Dost  see  this  little  old  fellow  here?  as  old  and  withered  a  chip 
as  ever  the  devil  put  into  his  porridge ;  and  yet,  uncle,  between 
you  and  me,  he  hath  Potosi  in  that  brain  of  his.  'Sblood! 
he  can  coin  ducats  faster  than  I  can  vent  oaths." 

"  I  will  have  none  of  his  coinage  in  my  purse  though,  Mich- 
ael," said  mine  host;  "  I  know  what  belongs  to  falsifying  the 
Queen's  coin." 

"  Thou  art  an  ass,  uncle,  for  as  old  as  thou  art.  Pull  me  not 
by  the  skirts,  doctor,  thou  art  an  ass  thyself  to  boot;  so,  being 
both  asses,  I  tell  ye  I  spoke  but  metaphorically." 

"  Are  you  mad !"  said  the  old  man ;  "  is  the  devil  in  you?  Can 
you  not  let  us  begone  without  drawing  all  men's  eyes  on  us?" 

"  Sayst  thou  ?"  said  Lambourne.  "  Thou  art  deceived  now — 
no  man  shall  see  you  an  I  give  the  word.  By  Heavens,  mas- 
ter's, an  any  one  dare  to  look  on  this  old  gentleman,  I  wiU 
slash  the  eyes  out  of  his  head  with  my  poniard !  So  sit  down, 
old  friend,  and  be  merry ;  these  are  mine  ingles — mine  ancient 
inmates,  and  will  betray  no  man." 

"Had  you  not  better  withdraw  to  a  private  apartment, 
nephew,"  said  Giles  Gosling.  "You  speak  strange  matter," 
he  added,  "and  there  be  intelligencers  everywhere." 

"I  care  not  for  them,"  said  the  magnanimous  Michael. 
"  Intelligencers !  pshaw !  I  serve  the  noble  Earl  of  Leicester. 
Here  comes  the  wine.  Fill  round.  Master  Skinker,  a  carouse 
to  the  health  of  the  flower  of  England,  the  noble  Earl  of  Lei- 
cester! I  say,  the  noble  Earl  of  Leicester!  He  that  does 
me  not  reason  is  a  swine  of  Sussex,  and  I'll  make  him  kneel  to 
the  pledge,  if  I  should  cut  his  hams  and  smoke  them  for  bacon." 

None  disputed  a  pledge  given  under  such  formidable  penal- 


262  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

ties;  and  Michael  Lambourue,  whose  drunlven  humour  was 
not  of  course  diminished  by  this  new  potation,  went  on  in  the 
same  wild  way,  renewing  his  acquaintance  with  such  of  the 
guests  as  he  had  formerly  known,  and  experiencing  a  reception 
in  which  there  was  now  something  of  deference,  mingled  with 
a  good  deal  of  fear ;  for  the  least  servitor  of  the  favourite  earl, 
especially  such  a  man  as  Lambourne,  was,  for  very  sufiicient 
reasons,  an  object  both  of  the  one  and  of  the  other. 

In  the  mean  while,  the  old  man,  seeing  his  guide  in  this  un- 
controllable humour,  ceased  to  remonstrate  with  him,  and  sit- 
ting down  in  the  most  obscure  corner  of  the  room,  called  for  a 
small  measure  of  sack,  over  which  he  seemed,  as  it  were,  to 
slumber,  withdrawing  himself  as  much  as  possible  from  gen- 
eral observation,  and  doing  nothing  which  could  recall  his  ex- 
istence to  the  recollection  of  his  fellow-traveller,  who  by  this 
time  had  got  into  close  intimacy  with  his  ancient  comrade, 
Goldthred  of  Abingdon. 

"  Never  believe  me,  buUy  Mike, "  said  the  mercer,  "  if  I  am 
not  as  glad  to  see  thee  as  ever  I  was  to  see  a  customer's 
money !  Why,  thou  canst  give  a  friend  a  sly  place  at  a  mask 
or  a  revel  now,  Mike ;  ay,  or,  I  warrant  thee,  thou  canst  say 
in  my  lord's  ear,  when  my  honourable  lord  is  down  in  these 
parts,  and  wants  a  Spanish  ruff  or  the  like — thou  canst  say  in 
his  ear :  "  There  is  mine  old  friend,  young  Laurence  Goldthred 
of  Abingdon,  has  as  good  wares,  lawn,  tiffany,  cambric,  and 
so  forth — ay,  and  is  as  pretty  a  piece  of  man's  flesh,  too,  as  is 
in  Berkshire,  and  will  ruffle  it  for  your  lordship  with  any  man 
of  his  mches" ;  and  thou  mayst  say " 

"  I  can  say  a  hundred  d — d  lies  besides,  mercer, "  answered 
Lambourne ;  "  what,  one  must  not  stand  upon  a  good  word  for 
a  friend!" 

"Here  is  to  thee,  Mike,  with  all  my  heart,"  said  the  mer- 
cer; "  and  thou  canst  tell  one  the  reality  of  the  new  fashions 
too.  Here  was  a  rogue  pedlar  but  now  was  crying  up  the  old- 
fashioned  Spanish  nether-stocks  over  the  Gascoigne  hose,  al- 
though thou  seest  how  well  the  French  hose  set  off  the  leg 
and  knee,  being  adorned  with  parti-coloured  garters  and  gar- 
niture in  conformity," 


KENILWORTR  263 

"Excellent — excellent,"  replied  Lambourne;  "why,  thy 
limber  bit  of  a  thigh,  thrust  through  that  bunch  of  slashed 
buckram  and  tiffany,  shows  like  a  housewife's  distaff  when 
the  flax  is  half  spun  off!" 

"  Said  I  not  so?"  said  the  mercer,  whose  shallow  brain  was 
now  overflowed  in  his  turn ;  "  where,  then — where  be  this  ras- 
cal pedlar? — there  was  a  pedlar  here  but  now,  methinks. 
Mine   host,  where  the  foul  fiend  is  this  pedlar?" 

"Where  wise  men  should  be,  Master  Goldthred,"  replied 
Giles  Gosling :  "  even  shut  up  in  his  private  chamber,  telling 
over  the  sales  of  to-day,  and  preparing  for  the  custom  of  to- 
morrow. " 

"Hang  him,  a  mechanical  chuff!"  said  the  mercer;  "but 
for  shame,  it  were  a  good  deed  to  ease  him  of  his  wares — a 
set  of  licddling  knaves,  who  stroll  through  the  land,  and  hurt 
the  established  trader.  There  are  good  fellows  in  Berkshire 
yet,  mine  host;  your  pedlar  may  be  met  withal  on  Maiden 
Castle." 

"  Ay,"  replied  mine  host,  laughing,  "  and  he  who  meets  him 
may  meet  his  match:  the  pedlar  is  a  tall  man." 

"Is  he?"  said  Goldthred. 

"Is  he!"  replied  the  host;  "ay,  by  cock  and  pie,  is  he — 
the  very  pedlar  he  who  raddled  Eobin  Hood  so  tightly,  as  the 
song  says — 

Now  Robin  Hood  drew  his  sword  so  good, 

The  pedlar  drew  his  brand. 
And  he  hath  raddled  him  Eobin  Hood, 

Till  he  neither  could  see  nor  stand." 

"Hang  him,  foul  scroyle,  let  him  pass,"  said  the  mercer; 
"  if  he  be  such  a  one,  there  were  small  worship  to  be  won  upon 
him.  And  now  tell  me,  Mike — my  honest  Mike,  how  wears 
the  hoUands  you  won  of  me?" 

"Why,  well,  as  you  may  see.  Master  Goldthred,"  answered 
Mike ;  "  I  will  bestow  a  pot  on  thee  for  the  handsel.  FiU  the 
flagon,  ]\Iaster  Tapster." 

"  Thou  wilt  win  no  more  hoUands,  I  think,  on  such  wager, 
friend  Mike,"  said  the  mercer;  "for  the  silly  swain,  Tony 
Foster,  rails  at  thee  aU  to  nought,  and  swears  you  shall  ne'er 


264  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

darken  his  doors  again,  for  that  your  oaths  are  enough  to  blow 
the  roof  off  a  Christian  man's  dwelling." 

"Doth  he  say  so,  the  mincing,  hypocritical  miser?"  vocife- 
rated Lambourne,  "  Why,  then,  he  shall  come  down  and  re- 
ceive my  commands  here,  this  blessed  night,  under  my  uncle's 
roof!  And  I  will  rmg  him  such  a  black  sanctus  that  he  shall 
think  the  devil  hath  him  by  the  skirts  for  a  month  to  come, 
for  barely  hearing  me." 

"Nay,  now  the  pottle-pot  is  uppermost,  with  a  witness!" 
said  the  mercer.  "Tony  Foster  obey  thy  whistle!  Alast 
good  Mike,  go  sleep — go  sleep." 

"  I  tell  thee  what,  thou  thin-faced  gull,"  said  Michael  Lam- 
bourne, in  high  chafe,  "  I  will  wager  thee  fifty  angels  against 
the  first  five  shelves  of  thy  shop,  numbering  upward  from  the 
false  light,  with  all  that  is  on  them,  that  I  make  Tony  Foster 
come  down  to  this  public-house  before  we  have  finished  three 
rounds." 

"  I  will  lay  no  bet  to  that  amount, "  said  the  mercer,  some- 
thing sobered  by  an  offer  which  intimated  rather  too  private  a 
knowledge,  on  Lambourne' s  part,  of  the  secret  recesses  of  his 
shop — "  I  will  lay  no  such  wager, "  he  said ;  "  but  I  will  stake 
five  angels  against  thy  five,  if  thou  wilt,  that  Tony  Foster 
wUl  not  leave  his  own  roof,  or  come  to  alehouse  after  prayer 
time,  for  thee  or  any  man." 

"  Content, "  said  Lambourne.  "  Here,  uncle,  hold  stakes, 
and  let  one  of  your  young  bleed-barrels  there — one  of  your  in- 
fant tapsters,  trip  presently  up  to  the  Place,  and  give  this 
letter  to  Master  Foster,  and  say  that  I,  his  ingle,  Michael 
Lambourne,  pray  to  speak  with  him  at  mine  uncle's  castle  here, 
upon  business  of  grave  import.  Away  with  thee,  child,  for  it 
is  now  sundown,  and  the  wretch  goeth  to  bed  with  the  birds, 
to  save  mutton-suet — faugh!" 

Shortly  after  this  messenger  was  despatched — an  int&rval 
which  was  spent  in  drinking  and  buffoonery — he  returned  with 
the  answer  that  Master  Foster  was  coming  presently. 

"Won — won!"  said  Lambourne,  darting  on  the  stakes. 

"  Not  till  he  comes,  if  you  please, "  said  the  mercer,  interf  er 
ing. 


KENILWORTH.  265 

^'Wliy,  'sblood,  lie  is  at  the  tkreshold, "  replied  MiehaeL 
"What  said  he,  boy?" 

*'  If  it  please  your  worship, "  answered  the  messenger,  "  he 
looked  out  of  window,  with  a  niusquetoon  in  his  hand,  and 
when  I  delivered  your  errand,  which  I  did  with  fear  and 
trembling,  he  said,  with  a  vinegar  aspect,  that  your  worship 
might  be  gone  to  the  infernal  regions." 

"Or  to  hell,  I  suppose,"  said  Lambourne;  "it  is  there  he 
disposes  of  all  that  are  not  of  the  congregation." 

"Even  so,"  said  the  boy;  "I  used  the  other  phrase  as  being 
the  more  poetical." 

"  An  ingenious  youth,"  said  Michael;  *'  shalt  have  a  drop  to 
"wet  thy  poetical  whistle.     And  what  said  Foster  next?" 

"He  called  me  back,"  answered  the  boy,  "and  bid  me  say, 
you  might  come  to  him,  if  you  had  aught  to  say  to  him." 

"And  what  next?"  said  Lambourne. 

"  He  read  the  letter,  and  seemed  in  a  fluster,  and  asked  if 
your  worship  was  in  drink ;  and  I  said  you  were  speaking  a 
little  Spanish,  as  one  who  had  been  in  the  Canaries." 

"  Out,  you  diminutive  pint-pot,  whelped  of  an  overgrown  reck- 
oning!" replied  Lambourne — "out!     But  what  said  he  then?" 

"  Why, "  said  the  boy,  "  he  muttered,  that  if  he  came  not, 
your  worship  would  bolt  out  what  were  better  kept  in ;  and  so 
he  took  his  old  flat  cap  and  threadbare  blue  cloak,  and,  as  I 
said  before,  he  will  be  here  incontinent." 

"  There  is  truth  in  what  he  said, "  replied  Lambourne,  as  if 
speaking  to  himself.  "  My  brain  has  played  me  its  old  dog's 
trick;  but  corragio — ^let  him  approach!  I  have  not  rolled 
about  in  the  world  for  many  a  day,  to  fear  Tony  Foster,  be  I 
drunk  or  sober.  Bring  me  a  flagon  of  cold  water,  to  christen 
my  sack  withal." 

'V\Tiile  Lambourne,  whom  the  approach  of  Foster  seemed  to 
have  recalled  to  a  sense  of  his  own  condition,  was  busied  in 
preparing  to  receive  him,  Giles  Gosling  stole  up  to  the  apart- 
ment of  the  pedlar,  whom  he  found  traversing  the  room  in 
much  agitation. 

"You  withdrew  yourself  suddenly  from  the  company,"  said 
the  landlord  to  the  guest. 


266  WAVERLET  NOVELS. 

"It  was  time,  wlien  the  devil  became  one  among  you,"  re- 
plied the  pedlar. 

"  It  is  not  courteous  in  you  to  term  my  nephew  by  such  a 
name, "  said  Gosling,  "  nor  is  it  kindly  in  me  to  reply  to  it  j  and 
yet,  in  some  sort,  Mike  may  be  considered  as  a  limb  of  Satan." 

"  Pooh,  I  talk  not  of  the  swaggering  ruffian, "  replied  the 

pedlar ;  "  it  is  of  the  other,  who,  for  aught  I  know But 

when  go  they?  or  wherefore  come  they?" 

"]\Iarry,  these  are  questions  I  cannot  answer,"  replied  the 
host.  "  But  look  you,  sir,  you  have  brought  me  a  token  from 
worthy  Master  Tressilian — a  pretty  stone  it  is."  He  took  out 
the  ring,  and  looked  at  it,  adding,  as  he  put  it  into  his  purse 
again,  that  it  was  too  rich  a  guerdon  for  anything  he  could  do 
for  the  worthy  donor.  He  was,  he  said,  in  the  public  line, 
and  it  111  became  him  to  be  too  inquisitive  into  other  folks' 
concerns ;  he  had  already  said  that  he  could  hear  nothing  but 
that  the  lady  lived  still  at  Cunmor  Place,  in  the  closest  seclu- 
sion, and,  to  such  as  by  chance  had  a  view  of  her,  seemed 
pensive,  and  discontented  with  her  solitude.  "  But  here, "  he 
said,  "  if  you  are  desirous  to  gratify  your  master,  is  the  rarest 
chance  that  hath  occurred  for  this  many  a  day.  Tony  Poster 
is  coming  down  hither,  and  it  is  but  letting  Mike  Lambourne 
smell  another  wine-flask,  and  the  Queen's  command  would  not 
move  him  from  the  ale-bench.  So  they  are  fast  for  an  hour 
or  so.  Kow,  if  you  Avill  don  your  pack,  which  will  be  your 
best  excuse,  you  may,  perchance,  win  the  ear  of  the  old  ser- 
vant, being  assured  of  the  master's  absence,  to  let  you  try  to 
get  some  custom  of  the  lady,  and  then  you  may  learn  more  of 
her  condition  than  I  or  any  other  can  tell  you." 

^'  True — very  true, "  answered  Way  land,  for  he  it  was ;  "  an 
excellent  device,  but  methinks  something  dangerous;  for,  say 
Foster  should  return?" 

"  Very  possible  indeed, "  replied  the  host. 

"Or  say,"  continued  Wayland,  "the  lady  should  render  me 
cold  thanks  for  my  exertions?" 

"As  is  not  unlikel}',"  replied  Giles  Gosling.  "I  marvel 
Master  Tressilian  will  take  such  heed  of  her  that  cares  not  for 
him." 


KENILWORTH.  26r 

"  In  either  case  I  were  foully  sped, "  said  Wayland ;  "  and 
therefore  I  do  not,  on  the  whole,  much  relish  your  device." 

"Xay,  but  take  me  with  you,  good  master  serving-man," 
replied  mine  host,  "this  is  your  master's  business  and  not 
mine ;  you  best  know  the  risk  to  be  encountered,  or  how  far 
you  are  willing  to  brave  it.  But  that  which  you  will  not 
yourself  hazard,  you  cannot  expect  others  to  risk." 

"Hold — hold,"  said  Wayland;  "tell  me  but  one  thing. 
Goes  yonder  old  man  up  to  Cumnor?" 

"  Surely,  I  thiukso,"  said  the  landlord;  "their  servant  said 
he  was  to  take  their  baggage  thither,  but  the  ale-tap  has  been 
as  potent  for  him  as  the  sack-spigot  has  been  for  Michael." 

"It  is  enough,"  said  Wayland,  assuming  an  air  of  resolu- 
tion;— "I  will  thwart  that  old  villain's  projects;  my  aifright 
at  his  baleful  aspect  begins  to  abate,  and  my  hatred  to  arise. 
Help  me  on  with  my  pack,  good  mine  host.  And  look  to  thy- 
self, old  Albumazar:  there  is  a  malignant  influence  in  thy 
horoscope,  and  it  gleams  from  the  constellation  Ursa  Major.** 

So  saying,  he  assumed  his  burden,  and,  guided  by  the  land- 
lord through  the  postern  gate  of  the  Black  Bear,  took  the 
most  private  way  from  thence  up  to  Cumnor  Place. 


CHAPTER  XX. 


Cltmn.  You  have  of  these  pedlars,  that  have  more  in  'em  than  you'd 
think,  sister. 

Winter's  Tale,  Act  iv.  Scene  3. 

IiT  his  anxiety  to  obey  the  earl's  repeated  charges  of  secrecy, 
as  well  as  from  his  own  imsocial  and  miserly  habits,  Anthony 
Foster  was  more  desirous,  by  his  mode  of  housekeeping,  to 
escape  observation  than  to  resist  intrusive  curiosity.  Thus, 
instead  of  a  numerous  household,  to  secure  his  charge  and 
defend  his  house,  he  studied,  as  much  as  possible,  to  elude 
notice  by  diminishing  his  attendants;  so  that,  unless  when 
there  were  followers  of  the  earl  or  of  Vamey  in  the  mansion, 
one  old  male  domestic  and  two  aged  crones,  who  assisted  in 


268  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

keeping  the  countess's  apartments  in  order,  were  the  only  ser- 
vants of  the  family. 

It  was  one  of  these  old  women  who  opened  the  door  when 
"Wayland  knocked,  and  answered  his  petition  to  be  admitted 
to  exhibit  his  wares  to  the  ladies  of  the  family  with  a  volley 
of  vituperation,  couched  in  what  is  there  called  the  'jowring' 
dialect.  The  pedlar  fovmd  the  means  of  checking  this  vocife- 
ration by  slipping  a  silver  groat  into  her  hand,  and  intimating 
the  present  of  some  stuff  for  a  coif,  if  the  lady  would  buy  of 
his  wares. 

"  God  ield  thee,  for  mine  is  aw  in  littocks.  Slocket  with, 
thy  pack  into  gharn,  mon.  Her  walks  in  gharn."  Into  the 
garden  she  ushered  the  pedlar  accordingly,  and  pointing  to  aa 
old  ruinous  garden-house,  said:  "Yonder  he's  her,  mon — yon- 
der he's  her.     Zhe  will  buy  changes  an  zhe  loikes  stuffs." 

"  She  has  left  me  to  come  off  as  I  may, "  thought  Wayland, 
as  he  heard  the  hag  shut  the  garden  door  behind  him.  "  But 
they  shall  not  beat  me,  and  they  dare  not  murder  me  for  so 
little  trespass,  and  by  this  fair  twilight.  Hang  it,  I  will 
on — a  brave  general  never  thought  of  his  retreat  till  he  was 
defeated.  I  see  two  females  in  the  old  garden-house  yonder ; 
but  how  to  address  them?  Stay — Will  Shakspeare,  be  my 
friend  in  need!  I  will  give  them  a  taste  of  Autolycus."  He 
then  sung  with  a  good  voice,  and  becoming  audacity,  the 
popular  playhouse  ditty — 

"  Lawn  as  white  as  driven  snow, 
Cyprus  black  as  e'er  was  crow, 
Gloves  as  sweet  as  damask  roses. 
Masks  for  faces  and  for  noses." 

"  What  hath  fortune  sent  us  here  for  an  unwonted  sight, 
Janet?"  said  the  lady. 

"  One  of  those  merchants  of  vanity,  caUed  pedlars, "  answered 
Janet,  demurely,  "  who  utters  his  light  wares  in  lighter  meas- 
ures.    I  marvel  old  Dorcas  let  him  pass." 

"It  is  a  lucky  chance,  girl,"  said  the  countess;  "we  lead  a 
heavy  life  here,  and  this  may  while  off  a  weary  hour. " 

"Ay,  my  gracious  lady,"  said  Janet;  "but  my  father?" 

"He  is  not  my  father,  Janet,  nor,   I  hope,  my  master," 


KENILWORTH.  269 

answered  the  lady.  "  I  say,  call  the  man  hither ;  I  want  some 
things." 

"  Nay, "  replied  Janet,  "  your  ladyship  has  but  to  say  so  in 
the  next  packet,  and  if  England  can  furnish  them  they  will  be 
sent.  There  will  come  mischief  on't.  Pray,  dearest  lady,  let 
me  bid  the  man  begone !" 

"  I  will  have  thee  bid  him  come  hither, "  said  the  countess ; 
**  or  stay,  thou  terrified  fool,  I  will  bid  him  myself,  and  spare 
thee  a  chiding." 

"  Ah !  well-a-day,  dearest  lady,  if  that  were  the  worst, "  said 
Janet,  sadly,  while  the  lady  called  to  the  pedlar,  "  Good  fellow, 
step  forward — undo  thy  pack ;  if  thou  hast  good  wares,  chance 
has  sent  thee  hither  for  my  convenience  and  thy  profit." 

"What  may  your  ladyship  please  to  lack?"  said  Way  land, 
unstrapping  his  pack,  and  displaying  its  contents  with  as  much 
dexterity  as  if  he  had  been  bred  to  the  trade.  Indeed,  he  had 
occasionally  pursued  it  in  the  course  of  his  roving  life,  and 
now  commended  his  wares  with  all  the  volubility  of  a  trader, 
and  showed  some  skill  in  the  main  art  of  placing  prices  upon, 
them. 

"What  do  I  please  to  lack?"  said  the  lady;  "  why,  consider- 
ing I  have  not  for  six  long  months  bought  one  yard  of  lawn  or 
cambric,  or  one  trinket,  the  most  inconsiderable,  for  my  own 
use,  and  at  my  own  choice,  the  better  question  is,  what  hast 
thou  got  to  sell?  Lay  aside  for  me  that  cambric  partlet  and 
pair  of  sleeves ;  and  those  roundells  of  gold  fringe,  drawn  out 
with  Cyprus ;  and  that  short  cloak  of  cherry-coloured  fine  cloth, 
garnished  with  gold  buttons  and  loops.  Is  it  not  of  an  abso- 
lute fancy,  Janet?" 

"Nay,  my  lady,"  replied  Janet,  "if  you  consult  my  poor 
judgment,  it  is,  methinks,  over  gaudy  for  a  graceful  habit." 

"Now,  out  upon  thy  judgment,  if  it  be  no  brighter,  wench," 
said  the  countess;  "thou  shalt  wear  it  thyself  for  penance 
sake ;  and  I  promise  thee  the  gold  buttons,  being  somewhat 
massive,  wiU  comfort  thy  father,  and  reconcile  him  to  the 
cherry-coloured  body.  See  that  he  snap  them  not  away, 
Janet,  and  send  them  to  bear  company  with  the  imprisoned 
angels  which  he  keeps  captive  in  his  strong-box." 


870  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

"May  I  pray  your  ladyship  to  spare  my  poor  father!"  said 
Janet. 

"  Nay,  but  why  should  any  one  spare  him  that  is  so  sparing 
of  his  own  nature?"  replied  the  lady.  "Well,  but  to  our 
gear.  That  head  garniture  for  myself,  and  that  silver  bodkin, 
mounted  with  pearl ;  and  take  off  two  gowns  of  that  russet 
cloth  for  Dorcas  and  Alison,  Janet,  to  keep  the  old  wretches 
warm  against  winter  comes.  And  stay,  hast  thou  no  per- 
fumes and  sweet  bags,  or  any  handsome  casting-bottles  of  the 
aewest  mode?" 

"Were  I  a  pedlar  in  earnest,  I  were  a  made  merchant," 
thought  Wayland,  as  he  busied  himself  to  answer  the  demands 
which  she  thronged  one  on  another,  with  the  eagerness  of  a 
young  lady  who  has  been  long  secluded  from  such  a  pleasing 
occupation.  "  But  how  to  bring  her  to  a  moment's  serious 
reflection?"  Then,  as  he  exhibited  his  choicest  collection  of 
essences  and  perfumes,  he  at  once  arrested  her  attention  by 
observing,  that  these  articles  had  almost  risen  to  double  value, 
since  the  magnificent  preparations  made  by  the  Earl  of  Lei- 
cester to  entertain  the  Queen  and  court  at  his  princely  Castle 
of  Kenil worth. 

"Ha!"  said  the  countess,  hastily;  "that  rumour  then  is 
true,  Janet." 

"Surely,  madam,"  answered  Wayland;  "and  I  marvel  it 
hath  not  reached  your  noble  ladyship's  ears.  The  Queen  of 
England  feasts  with  the  noble  earl  for  a  week  during  the  sum- 
mer's progress ;  and  there  are  many  who  will  tell  you  England 
will  have  a  king,  and  England's  Elizabeth — God  save  herl— . 
a  husband,  ere  the  progress  be  over. " 

"They  lie  like  villains!"  said  the  countess,  bursting  forth 
impatiently. 

"For  God's  sake,  madam,  consider,"  said  Janet,  trembling 
with  apprehension;  "who  would  cumber  themselves  about 
pedlar's  tidings?" 

"Yes,  Janet!"  exclaimed  the  countess;  "right,  thou  hast 
corrected  me  justly.  Such  reports,  blighting  the  reputation 
of  England's  brightest  and  noblest  peer,  can  only  find  currency 
amongst  the  mean,  the  abject,  and  the  infamous  I" 


KENILWORTH.  271 

**May  I  perisii,  lady,"  said  Way  land  Smith,  observing  that 
her  violence  directed  itself  towards  him,  "  if  I  have  done  any- 
thing to  merit  this  strange  passion !  I  have  said  but  what 
many  men  say." 

By  this  time  the  countess  had  recovered  her  composure,  and 
endeavoured,  alarmed  by  the  anxious  hint  of  Janet,  to  suppress 
all  appearance  of  displeasure.  "  I  were  loth,"  she  said,  "  good 
fellow,  that  our  Queen  should  change  the  virgin  style,  so  dear 
to  us  her  people — think  not  of  it."  And  then,  as  if  desirous 
to  change  the  subject,  she  added,  "  And  what  is  this  paste,  so 
carefully  put  up  in  the  silver  box?"  as  she  examined  the  con- 
tents of  a  casket  in  which  drugs  and  perfumes  were  contained 
in  separate  drawers. 

"  It  is  a  remedy,  madam,  for  a  disorder  of  which  I  trust 
your  ladyship  will  never  have  reason  to  complain.  The 
amount  of  a  small  Turkey  beau,  swallowed  daily  for  a  week, 
fortifies  the  heart  against  those  black  vapours  which  arise 
from  solitude,  melancholy,  unrequited  affection,  disappointed 
hope—" 

"Are  you  a  fool,  friend?"  said  the  countess,  sharply;  "or 
do  you  think,  because  I  have  good-naturedly  purchased  your 
trumpery  goods  at  your  roguish  prices,  that  you  may  put  any 
guUery  you  will  on  me?  Who  ever  heard  that  affections  of 
the  heart  were  cured  by  medicines  given  to  the  body?" 

"Under  your  honourable  favour,"  said  Wayland,  "I  am  an 
honest  man,  and  I  have  sold  my  goods  at  an  honest  price.  As 
to  this  most  precious  medicine,  when  I  told  its  qualities,  I 
asked  you  not  to  purchase  it,  so  why  should  I  lie  to  you?  I 
say  not  it  will  cure  a  rooted  affection  of  the  mind,  which  only 
God  and  time  can  do ;  but  I  say,  that  this  restorative  relieves 
the  black  vapours  which  are  engendered  in  the  body  of  that 
melancholy  which  broodeth  on  the  mind.  I  have  relieved 
many  with  it,  both  in  court  and  city,  and  of  late  done  Master 
Edmund  TressHian,  a  worshipful  gentleman  in  Cornwall,  wlio, 
on  some  slight,  received,  it  was  told  me,  where  he  had  set  his 
Affections,  was  brought  into  that  state  of  melancholy  which 
made  his  friends  alarmed  for  Ids  life." 

He  paused,  and  the  lady  remamed  silent  for  some  time,  and 


272  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

then  asked,  with  a  voice  which  she  strove  in  vaia  to  render  firm 
and  indifferent  in  its  tone,  "  Is  the  gentleman  you  have  men- 
tioned perfectly  recovered?" 

"Passably,  madam,"  answered  Way  land:  "  he  hath  at  least 
no  bodily  complaint. " 

"I  will  take  some  of  the  medicine,  Janet,"  said  the  coun- 
tess. "I  too  have  sometimes  that  dark  melancholy  which 
overclouds  the  brain." 

"You  shall  not  do  so,  madam,"  said  Janet;  "who  shall 
answer  that  this  fellow  vends  what  is  wholesome?" 

"  I  will  myself  warrant  my  good  faith, "  said  Wayland;  and, 
taking  a  part  of  the  medicine,  he  swallowed  it  before  them. 
The  countess  now  bought  what  remained,  a  step  to  which 
Janet,  by  farther  objections,  only  determined  her  the  more 
obstinately.  She  even  took  the  first  dose  upon  the  instant, 
and  professed  to  feel  her  heart  lightened  and  her  spirits  aug- 
mented— a  consequence  which,  in  all  probability,  existed  only 
in  her  own  imagination.  The  lady  then  piled  the  purchases 
she  had  made  together,  flung  her  purse  to  Janet,  and  desired 
her  to  compute  the  amount  and  to  pay  the  pedlar ;  while  she 
herself,  as  if  tired  of  the  amusement  she  at  first  found  in  con- 
versing with  him,  wished  him  good  evening,  and  walked  care- 
lessly into  the  house,  thus  depriving  Wayland  of  every  op- 
portunity to  speak  with  her  in  private.  He  hastened,  however, 
to  attempt  an  explanation  with  Janet. 

"Maiden,"  he  said,  "thou  hast  the  face  of  one  who  should 
love  her  mistress.     She  hath  much  need  of  faithful  service." 

"And  well  deserves  it  at  my  hands,"  replied  Janet;  "but 
what  of  that?" 

"Maiden,  I  am  not  altogether  what  I  seem,"  said  the  ped- 
lar, lowering  his  voice. 

"  The  less  like  to  be  an  honest  man,"  said  Janet. 

"  The  more  so,"  answered  Wayland,  "  since  I  am  no  pedlar." 

"Get  thee  gone  then  instantly,  or  I  will  call  for  assistance," 
eaid  Janet ;  "  my  father  must  ere  this  be  returned. " 

"  Do  not  be  so  rash, "  said  Wayland ;  "  you  wiU  do  what  you 
may  repent  of.  I  am  one  of  your  mistress's  friends;  and  she 
had  need  of  more,  not  that  thou  shouldst  ruin  those  she  hath." 


KENILWORTH.  273 

*'Ho"w  shall  I  know  that?"  said  Janet. 

"  Look  me  in  the  face, "  said  Wayland  Smith,  "  and  see  if 
thou  dost  not  read  honesty  in  my  looks. " 

And  in  truth,  though  by  no  means  handsome,  there  "was  in 
his  physiognomy  the  sharp,  keen  expression  of  inventive  ge- 
nius and  prompt  intellect  which,  joined  to  quick  and  brilliant 
eyes,  a  weU-formed  mouth,  and  an  intelligent  smile,  often 
gives  grace  and  interest  to  features  which  are  both  homely  and 
irregular.  Janet  looked  at  him  with  the  sly  simplicity  of  her 
sect,  and  replied:  " jSTotwithstanding  thy  boasted  honesty, 
friend,  and  although  I  am  not  accustomed  to  read  and  pasa 
judgment  on  such  volumes  as  thou  hast  submitted  to  my  peru- 
sal, I  think  I  see  in  thy  countenance  something  of  the  pedlar — . 
something  of  the  picaroon. " 

"  On  a  small  scale,  perhaps, "  said  Wayland  Smith,  laughing. 
"But  this  evening,  or  to-morrow,  will  an  old  man  coma 
hither  with  thy  father,  who  has  the  stealthy  step  of  the 
cat,  the  shrewd  and  vindictive  eye  of  the  rat,  the  fawning 
wile  of  the  spaniel,  the  determined  snatch  of  the  mastiff ;  of 
him  beware,  for  your  own  sake  and  that  of  your  mistress. 
See  you,  fair  Janet,  he  brings  the  venom  of  the  aspic  imder 
the  assumed  iimocence  of  the  dove.  What  precise  mischief 
he  meditates  towards  you  I  cannot  guess ;  but  death  and  dis- 
ease have  ever  dogged  his  footsteps.  Say  nought  of  this  to 
thy  mistress :  my  art  suggests  to  me  that  in  her  state  the  fear 
of  evil  may  be  as  dangerous  as  its  operation.  But  see  that 
she  take  my  specific,  for  (he  lowered  his  voice,  and  spoks  low 
but  impressively  in  her  ear)  it  is  an  antidote  against  poison. 
Hark,  they  enter  the  garden!" 

In  effect,  a  sound  of  noisy  mirth  and  loud  talking  approached 
the  garden  door,  alarmed  by  which,  Wayland  Smith  sprung 
into  the  midst  of  a  thicket  of  overgrown  shrubs,  while  Janet 
withdrew  to  the  garden-house  that  she  might  not  incur  obser- 
vation, and  that  she  might  at  the  same  time  conceal,  at  least 
for  the  present,  the  purchases  made  from  the  supposed  pedlar, 
which  lay  scattered  on  the  floor  of  the  summer-house. 

Janet,  however,  had  no  occasion  for  anxi«?ty.  Her  father, 
his  old  attendant,  Lord  Leicester's  domestife  aad  the  astrologer 
18 


274  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

entered  the  garden  in  tumidt  and  in  extreme  perplexity,  en- 
deavouring to  quiet  Lambourne,  whose  brain  had  now  become 
completely  fired  with  liquor,  and  who  was  one  of  those  unfortu- 
nate persons  who,  being  once  stirred  with  the  vinous  stimulus, 
do  not  fall  asleep  like  other  drunkards,  but  remain  partially 
influenced  by  it  for  many  hours,  until  at  length,  by  succes- 
sive draughts,  they  are  elevated  into  a  state  of  uncontrollable 
frenzy.  Like  many  men  in  this  state  also,  Lambourne  neither 
lost  the  power  of  motion,  speech,  or  expression ;  but,  on  the 
contrary,  spoke  with  unwonted  emphasis  and  readiness,  and 
told  all  that  at  another  time  he  would  have  been  most  desirous 
to  keep  secret. 

"  What!"  ejaculated  Michael,  at  the  full  extent  of  his  voice, 
"  am  I  to  have  no  welcome — no  carouse,  when  I  have  brought 
fortune  to  your  old  ruinous  dog-house  in  the  shape  of  a  devil's 
ally,  that  can  change  slate-shivers  into  Spanish  dollars?  Here, 
you  Tony  Fire-the-Fagot,  Papist,  Puritan,  hypocrite,  miser, 
profligate,  devil,  compounded  of  all  men's  sins,  bow  down  and 
reverence  him  who  has  brought  into  thy  house  the  very  mam- 
mon thou  worshippest!" 

"For  God's  sake,"  said  Foster,  "speak  low;  come  into  the 
house ;  thou  shalt  have  wine,  or  whatever  thou  wilt. " 

"No,  old  puckfist,  I  will  have  it  here,"  thundered  the  in- 
ebriated rufiian — "here,  al  fresco,  as  the  Italian  hath  it. 
No — no,  I  will  not  drink  with  that  poisoning  devil  within 
doors,  to  be  choked  with  the  fumes  of  arsenic  and  quicksilver ; 
I  learned  from  villain  Varney  to  beware  of  that. " 

"Fetch  him  wine,  in  the  name  of  all  the  fiends!"  said  the 
alchemist. 

"  Aha !  and  thou  wouldst  spice  it  for  me,  old  Truepenny, 
wouldst  thou  not?  Ay,  I  should  have  copperas,  and  hellebore, 
and  vitriol,  and  aquafortis,  and  twenty  devilish  materials,  bub- 
bling in  my  brain-pan,  like  a  charm  to  raise  the  devil  in  a 
witch's  cauldron.  Hand  me  the  flask  thyself,  old  Tony  Fire- 
the-Fagot — and  let  it  be  cool;  I  will  have  no  wine  mulled  at 
the  pile  of  the  old  burnt  bishops.  Or  stay,  let  Leicester  be 
king  if  he  will — good — and  Varney,  villain  Varney,  grand 
Tizier — why,  excellent!     And  what  shall  I  be,  then?    Why, 


KENILWORTH.  276 

emperor, — Emperor  Lambourne !  I  will  see  this  clioice  piece 
of  beauty  that  they  have  walled  up  here  for  their  private 
pleasures ;  I  will  have  her  this  very  night  to  serve  my  "wine- 
cup  and  put  on  my  nightcap.  What  should  a  fellow  do  with 
two  wives,  were  he  twenty  times  an  eai-l?  Answer  me  that, 
Tony  boy,  you  old  reprobate,  hypocritical  dog,  whom  God 
struck  out  of  the  book  of  life,  but  tormented  with  the  con- 
stant wish  to  be  restored  to  it.  You  old  bishop-burning,  blas- 
phemous fanatic,  answer  me  that." 

"  I  will  stick  my  knife  to  the  haft  in  him,"  said  Foster,  in 
a  low  tone,  which  trembled  with  passion. 

"For  the  love  of  Heaven,  no  violence!"  said  the  astrologer. 
**It  cannot  but  be  looked  closely  into.  Here,  honest  Lam- 
bourne, wilt  thou  pledge  me  to  the  health  of  the  noble  Earl  of 
Leicester  and  Master  Kichard  Varney?" 

"  I  will,  mine  old  Albumazar — I  will,  my  trusty  vender  of 
ratsbane.  I  would  kiss  thee,  mine  honest  infractor  of  the 
Lex  Julia,  as  they  said  at  Leyden,  didst  thou  not  flavour  so 
damnably  of  sulphur  and  such  fiendish  apothecaries'  stuff. 
Here  goes  it,  vp  sey  es — to  Varney  and  Leicester !  Two  more 
noble,  mounting  spirits,  and  more  dark-seeking,  deep-diving, 
high-flying,  malicious,  ambitious  miscreants — well,  I  say  no 
more,  but  I  will  whet  my  dagger  on  his  heart-spone  that  re- 
fuses to  pledge  me  I     And  so,  my  masters " 

Thus  speaking,  Lambourne  exhausted  the  cup  which  the 
astrologer  had  handed  to  him,  and  which  contained  not  wine, 
but  distilled  spirits.  He  swore  half  an  oath,  dropped  the 
empty  cup  from  his  grasp,  laid  his  hand  on  his  sword  without 
being  able  to  di-aw  it,  reeled,  and  fell  without  sense  or  motion 
into  the  arms  of  the  domestic,  who  dragged  him  off  to  his 
chamber  and  put  him  to  bed. 

In  the  general  confusion,  Janet  regained  her  lady's  chamber 
unobserved,  trembling  like  an  aspen  leaf,  but  determined  to 
keep  secret  from  the  countess  the  dreadful  smiuises  which  she 
could  not  help  entertaining  from  the  drunken  ravmgs  of  Lam- 
bourne. Her  fears,  however,  though  they  assumed  no  certain 
shape,  kept  pace  with  the  advice  of  the  pedlar;  and  she  con- 
firmed her  mistress  in  her  purpose  of  taking  the  medicine 


276  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

which  he  had  recommended,  from  which  it  is  probable  she 
would  otherwise  have  dissuaded  her. 

Neither  had  these  intimations  escaped  the  ears  of  Wayland, 
who  knew  much  better  how  to  interpret  them.  He  felt  much 
compassion  at  beholding  so  lovely  a  creature  as  the  countess, 
and  whom  he  had  first  seen  in  the  bosom  of  domestic  happi- 
ness, exposed  to  the  machinations  of  such  a  gang  of  villains. 
His  indignation,  too,  had  been  highly  excited  by  hearing  th& 
voice  of  his  old  master,  against  whom  he  felt,  in  equal  degree, 
the  passions  of  hatred  and  fear.  He  nourished  also  a  pride  in 
his  own  art  and  resources ;  and,  dangerous  as  the  task  was,  he 
that  night  formed  a  determination  to  attain  the  bottom  of  the 
mystery,  and  to  aid  the  distressed  lady,  if  it  were  yet  possible. 
From  some  words  which  Lambourne  had  dropped  among  his 
ravings,  Wayland  now,  for  the  first  time,  felt  inclined  to 
doubt  that  Varney  had  acted  entirely  on  his  own  account  in 
wooing  and  winning  the  affections  of  this  beautiful  creature. 
Fame  asserted  of  this  zealous  retainer  that  he  had  accommo- 
dated his  lord  in  former  love  intrigues;  and  it  occurred  to 
Wayland  Smith  that  Leicester  himself  might  be  the  party 
chiefly  interested.  Her  marriage  with  the  earl  he  could  not 
suspect;  but  even  the  discovery  of  such  a  passing  intrigue 
with  a  lady  of  Mistress  Amy  Robsart's  rank  was  a  secret  of 
the  deepest  importance  to  the  stability  of  the  favourite's  power 
over  Elizabeth.  "  If  Leicester  himself  should  hesitate  to  stifle 
such  a  rumour  by  very  strange  means,"  said  he  to  himself, 
"  he  has  those  about  him  who  would  do  him  that  favour  with- 
out waiting  for  his  consent.  If  I  would  meddle  in  this  busi- 
ness, it  must  be  in  such  guise  as  my  old  master  uses  when  he 
compounds  his  manna  of  Satan,  and  that  is  with  a  close  mask 
on  my  face.  So  I  will  quit  Giles  Gosling  to-morrow,  and 
change  my  course  and  place  of  residence  as  often  as  a  himted 
fox.  I  should  like  to  see  this  little  Puritan,  too,  once  more. 
She  looks  both  pretty  and  intelligent,  to  have  come  of  such  a 
caitiff  as  Anthony  Fire-the-Fagot. " 

Giles  Gosling  received  the  adieus  of  Wayland  rather  joy- 
fully than  otherwise.  The  honest  publican  saw  so  much  peril 
in  crossing  the  course  of  the  Earl  of  Leicester's  favourite,  that 


KENILWORTH.  27T 

his  virtue  was  scarce  able  to  support  him  in  tlie  task,  and  he 
was  well  pleased  when  it  was  likely  to  be  removed  from  his 
shoulders ;  still,  however,  professing  his  good- will  and  readi- 
ness, in  case  of  need,  to  do  Master  Tressilian  or  his  emissary 
any  service,  in  so  far  as  consisted  with  his  character  of  a 
publican. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 


Vaulting  ambition,  that  o'erleaps  itself, 
And  falls  on  t'other  side. 

Macbeth, 

The  splendour  of  the  approaching  revels  at  Kenilworth  was 
now  the  conversation  through  all  England;  and  everything 
was  collected  at  home  or  from  abroad  which  could  add  to  the 
gaiety  or  glory  of  the  prepared  reception  of  Elizabeth  at  the 
house  of  her  most  distinguished  favourite.  Meanwhile,  Lei- 
cester appeared  daily  to  advance  in  the  Queen's  favour.  He 
was  perpetually  by  her  side  in  council,  willingly  listened  to  in 
the  moments  of  courtly  recreation,  favoured  with  approaches 
even  to  familiar  intimacy,  looked  up  to  by  all  who  had  aught 
to  hope  at  court,  courted  by  foreign  ministers  with  the  most 
flattering  testimonies  of  respect  from  their  sovereigns — the 
alter  ego,  as  it  seemed,  of  the  stately  Elizabeth,  who  was  now 
very  generally  supposed  to  be  studying  the  time  and  oppor- 
tunity for  associating  him,  by  marriage,  into  her  sovereign 
power. 

Amid  such  a  tide  of  prosperity,  this  minion  of  fortmie  and 
of  the  Queen's  favour  was  probably  the  most  unhappy  man  in 
the  realm  which  seemed  at  his  devotion.  He  had  the  Fairy 
King's  superiority  over  his  friends  and  dependants,  and  saw 
much  which  they  could  not.  The  character  of  his  mistress 
was  intimately  known  to  him :  it  was  his  minute  and  studied 
acquaintance  with  her  humours,  as  well  as  her  noble  faculties, 
which,  joined  to  his  powerful  mental  qualities  and  his  eminent 
external  accomplishments,  had  raised  him  so  high  in  her  favour; 
and  it  was  that  very  knowledge  of  her  disposition  which  led 


278  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

bim  to  apprehend  at  every  turn  some  sudden  and  overwhelm- 
ing disgrace.  Leicester  was  like  a  pilot  possessed  of  a  chart, 
which  points  out  to  him  all  the  peculiarities  of  his  navigation, 
but  which  exhibits  so  many  shoals,  breakers,  and  reefs  of  rocks 
that  his  anxious  eye  reaps  little  more  from  observing  them 
than  to  be  convinced  that  his  final  escape  can  be  little  else  than 
miraculous. 

In  fact,  Queen  Elizabeth  had  a  character  strangely  com- 
pounded of  the  strongest  masculine  sense  with  those  foibles 
which  are  chiefly  supposed  proper  to  the  female  sex.  Her 
subjects  had  the  full  benefit  of  her  virtues,  which  far  pre- 
dominated over  her  weaknesses ;  but  the  coiu-tiers  and  those 
about  her  person  had  often  to  sustain  sudden  and  embarrassing 
turns  of  caprice  and  the  sallies  of  a  temper  which  was  both 
jealous  and  despotic.  She  was  the  nursing-mother  of  her  peo- 
ple, but  she  was  also  the  true  daughter  of  Henry  VIII. ;  and 
though  early  sufferings  and  an  excellent  education  had  re- 
pressed and  modified,  they  had  not  altogether  destroyed,  the 
hereditary  temper  of  that '' hard-ruled  king."  "Her  mind," 
says  her  witty  godson.  Sir  John  Harrington,  who  had  experi- 
enced both  the  smiles  and  the  frowns  which  he  describes,  "  was 
ofttime  like  the  gentle  air,  that  cometh  from  the  westerly  point 
in  a  summer's  morn :  'twas  sweet  and  refreshing  to  all  around 
her.  Her  speech  did  win  all  affections.  .  .  .  Again,  she  could 
put  forth  such  alterations,  when  obedience  was  lacking,  as  left 
no  doubtings  whose  daughter  she  was.  .  .  .  When  she  smiled, 
it  was  a  pure  sunshine,  that  every  one  did  choose  to  bask  in, 
if  they  could ;  but  anon  came  a  storm,  from  a  sudden  gathering 
of  clouds,  and  the  thimder  fell  in  wondrous  manner  on  aU 
alike."' 

This  variability  of  disposition,  as  Leicester  well  knew,  was 
chiefly  formidable  to  those  who  had  a  share  in  the  Queen's 
affections,  and  who  depended  rather  on  her  personal  regard 
tlfen  on  the  indispensable  services  which  they  could  render  to 
her  councils  and  her  crown.  The  favoux  of  Burleigh  or  of 
Walsingham,  of  a  description  far  less  striking  than  that  by 

>  Nugse  Antiqiise,  Letter  of  Sir  J.  Harrington  to  Mr.  Robert  Markham, 
1606. 


KEXILT70RTH.  27^ 

"which  he  was  himself  upheld,  was  founded,  as  Leicester  was 
well  aware,  on  Elizabeth's  solid  judgment,  not  on  her  partial- 
ity, and  was,  therefore,  free  from  all  those  pruiciples  of 
change  and  decay  necessarily  incident  to  that  which  chiefly 
arose  from  personal  accomplishments  and  female  predilection. 
These  great  and  sage  statesmen  were  judged  of  by  the  Queen 
only  with  reference  to  the  measures  they  suggested,  and  th& 
reasons  by  which  they  supported  their  opinions  in  council; 
whereas  the  success  of  Leicester's  course  depended  on  all  those 
light  and  changeable  gales  of  caprice  and  humour  which  thwart 
or  favour  the  progress  of  a  lover  in  the  favour  of  his  mistress, 
and  she,  too,  a  mistress  who  was  ever  and  anon  becoming 
fearful  lest  she  should  forget  the  dignity,  or  compromise  the 
authority,  of  the  queen  while  she  indulged  the  affections  of  the 
woman.  Of  the  difficulties  which  surrounded  his  power,  "too 
great  to  keep  or  to  resign, "  Leicester  was  fully  sensible ;  and, 
as  he  looked  anxiously  round  for  the  means  of  maintaining 
himself  in  his  precarious  situation,  and  sometimes  contem- 
plated those  of  descending  from  it  in  safety,  he  saw  but  little 
hope  of  either.  At  such  moments,  his  thoughts  turned  to 
dwell  upon  his  secret  marriage  and  its  consequences ;  and  it 
was  in  bitterness  against  himseK,  if  not  against  his  unfortunate 
countess,  that  he  ascribed  to  that  hasty  measure,  adopted  in 
the  ardour  of  what  he  now  called  inconsiderate  passion,  at 
once  the  impossibility  of  placing  his  power  on  a  solid  basis  and 
the  immediate  prospect  of  its  precipitate  downfall. 

"Men  say,"  thus  ran  his  thoughts,  in  these  anxious  and 
repentant  moments,  "  that  I  might  marry  Elizabeth,  and  be- 
come King  of  England.  All  things  suggest  this.  The  match 
is  carolled  in  ballads,  while  the  rabble  throw  their  caps  up. 
It  has  been  touched  upon  in  the  schools — whispered  in  the 
presence-chamber — recommended  from  the  pulpit — prayed  for 
in  th:  Calvinistie  churches  abroad — ^touched  on  by  statists  in 
the  very  counoil  at  home.  These  bold  insinuations  have  been 
rebutted  hr'  no  rebuke,  no  resentment,  no  chiding,  scarce  even 
by  the  usual  fer^.ale  protestation  that  she  would  live  and  die  a 
virgin  princess.  Her  words  have  been  more  courteous  than 
ever,  though  she  knows  such  rumours  are  abroad-^her  actions 


280  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

more  gracious — her  looks  more  kind :  nought  seems  wanting  to 
make  me  King  of  England,  and  place  me  beyond  the  storms  of 
court  favour,  excepting  the  putting  forth  of  mine  own  hand  to 
take  that  crown  imperial  which  is  the  glory  of  the  universe  I 
And  when  I  might  stretch  that  hand  out  most  boldly,  it  is 
fettered  down  by  a  secret  and  inextricable  bond !  And  here  I 
Jiave  letters  from  Amy, "  he  would  say,  catching  them  up  with 
a  movement  of  peevishness,  "  persecuting  me  to  acknowledge 
her  openly — to  do  justice  to  her  and  to  myself — and  I  wot  not 
what.  Methinks  I  have  done  less  than  justice  to  myself  al- 
ready. And  she  speaks  as  if  Elizabeth  were  to  receive  the 
knowledge  of  this  matter  with  the  glee  of  a  mother  hearing  of 
the  happy  marriage  of  a  hopeful  son !  She,  the  daughter  of 
Henry,  who  spared  neither  man  in  his  anger  nor  woman  in  his 
■desire — she  to  find  herself  tricked,  di-awn  on  with  toys  of  pas- 
sion to  the  verge  of  acknowledging  her  love  to  a  subject,  and 
he  discovered  to  be  a  married  man !  Elizabeth  to  learn  that 
she  had  been  dallied  with  in  such  fashion,  as  a  gay  courtier 
might  trifle  with  a  country  wench.  We  should  then  see  to 
our  ruin  furens  qiiid  fcemina  !  " 

He  would  then  pause,  and  call  for  Varney,  whose  advice 
was  now  more  frequently  resorted  to  than  ever,  because  the 
«arl  remembered  the  remonstrances  which  he  had  made  against 
liis  secret  contract.  And  their  consultation  usually  terminated 
in  anxious  deliberation  how,  or  in  what  manner,  the  countess 
was  to  be  produced  at  Keuilworth.  These  communings  had 
for  some  time  ever  ended  in  a  resolution  to  delay  the  progress 
from  day  to  day.  But  at  length  a  peremptory  decision  became 
necessary. 

"  Elizabeth  wUl  not  be  satisfied  without  her  presence, "  said 
the  earl;  "whether  any  suspicion  hath  entered  her  mind,  as 
my  own  apprehensions  suggest,  or  whether  the  petition  of 
Tressilian  is  kept  in  her  memory  by  Sussex  or  some  other 
secret  enemy,  I  know  not ;  but  amongst  all  the  favourable  ex- 
pressions which  she  uses  to  me,  she  often  recurs  to  the  story 
of  Amy  Kobsart.  I  think  that  Amy  is  the  slave  in  the 
chariot,  who  is  placed  there  by  my  evil  fortune  to  dash  and  to 
confound  my  triumph,  even  when  at  the  highest.     Show  me 


KENILWORTH.  281 

thy  device,  Varney,  for  solving  the  inextricable  difficulty.  I 
have  thrown  every  such  impediment  in  the  way  of  these  ac- 
cursed revels  as  I  could  propound  even  with  a  shade  of  de- 
cency, but  to-day's  interview  has  put  all  to  a  hazard.  She  said 
to  me  kindly  but  peremptorily:  *"We  will  give  you  no  farther 
time  for  preparations,  my  lord,  lest  you  should  altogether  ruin 
yourself.  On  Saturday,  the  9th  of  July,  we  will  be  with  you  at 
Kenilworth.  We  pray  you  to  forget  none  of  our  appointed 
guests  and  suitors,  and  in  especial  this  light  o'  love,  Amy  Rob- 
sart.  We  would  wish  to  see  the  woman  who  could  postpone  yon- 
der poetical  gentleman.  Master  Tressilian,  to  your  man,  Eichard 
Varney. '  Now,  Varney,  ply  thine  invention,  whose  forge  hath 
availed  us  so  often ;  for  sure  as  my  name  is  Dudley,  the  dan- 
ger menaced  by  my  horoscope  is  now  darkening  around  me," 

"  Can  my  lady  be  by  no  means  persuaded  to  bear  for  a  brief 
space  the  obscure  character  which  circumstances  impose  on 
her?"  said  Varney,  after  some  hesitation. 

"  How,  sirrah !  my  countess  term  herself  thy  wife !  that  may 
neither  stand  with  my  honour  nor  with  hers." 

"  Alas !  my  lord, "  answered  Varney,  "  and  yet  such  '  is  the 
quality  in  which  Elizabeth  now  holds  her ;  and  to  contradict 
this  opinion  is  to  discover  all." 

"  Think  of  something  else,  Varney, "  said  the  earl,  in  great 
agitation;  "this  invention  is  naught.  If  I  could  give  way  to 
it,  she  would  not;  for  I  tell  thee,  Varney,  if  thou  know'st  it 
not,  that  not  Elizabeth  on  the  throne  has  more  pride  than  the 
daughter  of  this  obscure  gentleman  of  Devon.  She  is  flexible 
in  many  things,  but  where  she  holds  her  honour  brought  in 
question  she  hath  a  spirit  and  temper  as  apprehensive  as  light- 
ning, and  as  swift  in  execution." 

"  We  have  experienced  that,  my  lord,  else  had  we  not  been 
thus  circumstanced, "  said  Varney.  "  But  what  else  to  suggest 
I  know  not.  Methinks  she  whose  good  fortune  in  becoming 
your  lordship's  bride  gives  rise  to  the  danger  should  do  some- 
what towards  parrying  it." 

"  It  is  impossible, "  said  the  earl,  waving  his  hand :  "  I  know 
neither  authority  nor  entreaties  would  make  her  endure  thy 
name  for  an  hour." 


282  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

"  It  is  some  what  hard,  though, "  said  Varney,  in  a  dry  tone ; 
and,  without  pausing  on  that  topic,  he  added:  "  Suppose  some 
one  were  found  to  represent  her?  Such  feats  have  been  per- 
formed in  the  courts  of  as  sharp-eyed  monarchs  as  Queen 
Elizabeth." 

''Utter  madness,  Varney,"  answered  the  earl;  "the  coun- 
terfeit would  be  confronted  with  Tressilian,  and  discovery 
become  inevitable." 

"  Tressilian  might  be  removed  from  court,"  said  the  unhesi- 
tating Yarney. 

"  And  by  what  means?" 

"  There  are  many, "  said  Varney,  "  by  which  a  statesman  in 
your  situation,  my  lord,  may  remove  from  the  scene  one  who 
pries  into  your  affairs,  and  places  himself  in  perilous  opposition 
to  you." 

"  Speak  not  to  me  of  such  policy,  Varney,"  said  the  earl, 
hastily ;  "  which,  besides,  would  avail  nothing  in  the  present 
case.  Many  others  there  be  at  court  to  whom  Amy  may  be 
known ;  and  besides,  on  the  absence  of  Tressilian,  her  father 
or  some  of  her  friends  would  be  instantly  summoned  hither. 
Urge  thine  invention  once  more." 

"  My  lord,  I  know  not  what  to  say, "  answered  Varney ; 
*'  but  were  I  myself  in  such  perplexity,  I  would  ride  post  down 
to  Cunmor  Place  and  compel  my  wife  to  give  her  consent  to 
such  measures  as  her  safety  and  mine  required." 

"  Varney,"  said  Leicester,  "  I  cannot  urge  her  to  aught  so 
repugnant  to  her  noble  nature  as  a  share  in  this  stratagem : 
it  would  be  a  base  requital  for  the  love  she  bears  me." 

"  Well,  my  lord,"  said  Varney,  "  your  lordship  is  a  wise  and 
an  honourable  man,  and  skilled  in  those  high  pomts  of  roman- 
tic scruple  which  are  current  in  Arcadia,  perhaps,  as  your 
nephew,  Philip  Sidney,  writes.  I  am  your  humble  servitor — 
a  man  of  this  world,  and  only  happy  that  my  knowledge  of  it 
and  its  ways  is  such  as  your  lordship  has  not  scorned  to  avail 
yourself  of.  Now  I  would  fain  know  whether  the  obligation 
lies  on  my  lady  or  on  you  in  this  fortunate  union ;  and  which 
has  most  reason  to  show  complaisance  to  the  other,  and  to  con- 
sider that  other's  wishes,  conveniences,  and  safety?" 


KENILWORTH.  28$ 

"  I  tell  thee,  Varney, "  said  the  earl,  "  that  all  it  "was  iu  my 
power  to  bestow  upon  her  was  not  merely  deserved,  but  a 
thousand  times  overpaid,  by  her  own  virtue  and  beauty ;  for 
never  did  greatness  descend  upon  a  creature  so  formed  by 
nature  to  grace  and  adorn  it." 

"It  is  well,  my  lord,  you  are  so  satisfied, "  answered  Yarney, 
with  his  usual  sardonic  smile,  which  even  respect  to  his  patron 
could  not  at  all  times  subdue ;  "  you  will  have  time  enough 
to  enjoy  undisturbed  the  society  of  one  so  gracious  and  beau- 
tiful— that  is,  so  soon  as  such  confinement  in  the  Tower  be 
over  as  may  correspond  to  the  crime  of  deceiving  the  affections 
of  Elizabeth  Tudor.  A  cheaper  penalty,  I  presume,  you  do 
not  expect?" 

"Malicious  fiend!"  answered  Leicester,  "do  you  mock  me 
in  my  misfortune?     Manage  it  as  thou  wilt." 

"  If  you  are  serious,  my  lord, "  said  Varney,  "  you  must  set 
forth  instantly  and  post  for  Cumnor  Place." 

"  Do  thou  go  thyself,  Varney :  the  devil  has  given  thee  that 
sort  of  eloquence  which  is  most  powerful  in  the  worst  cause. 
I  should  stand  self-convicted  of  villamy  were  I  to  urge  such 
a  deceit.  Begone,  I  tell  thee.  Must  I  entreat  thee  to  mine 
own  dishonour!" 

"No,  my  lord,"  said  Varney;  "but,  if  you  are  serious  in 
entrusting  me  with  the  task  of  urging  this  most  necessary 
measure,  you  must  give  me  a  letter  to  my  lady  as  my  creden- 
tials, and  trust  to  me  for  backing  the  advice  it  contains  with 
all  the  force  in  my  power.  And  such  is  my  opinion  of  my 
lady's  love  for  your  lordship,  and  of  her  willingness  to  do  that 
which  is  at  once  to  contribute  to  your  pleasure  and  your  safety, 
that  I  am  sure  she  will  condescend  to  bear,  for  a  few  brief 
days,  the  name  of  so  humble  a  man  as  myself,  especially  since 
it  is  not  inferior  in  antiquity  to  that  of  her  own  paternal 
house." 

Leicester  seized  on  writing-materials,  and  twice  or  thrice 
commenced  a  letter  to  the  countess,  which  he  afterwards  tore 
into  fragments.  At  length  he  finished  a  few  distracted  Imes, 
in  which  he  conjured  her,  for  reasons  nearly  concerning  his 
life  and  honour,  to  consent  to  bear  the  name  of  Varney  for  a 


284  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

few  days,  during  the  revels  at  Kenilworth.  He  added,  that 
Varney  would  communicate  all  the  reasons  which  rendered 
this  deception  indispensable;  and  having  signed  and  sealed 
these  credentials,  he  flung  them  over  the  table  to  Varney,  with 
a  motion  that  he  should  depart,  which  his  adviser  was  not  slow 
to  comprehend  and  to  obey. 

Leicester  remained  like  one  stupified,  till  he  heard  the  tram- 
pling of  the  horses,  as  Varney,  who  took  no  time  even  to 
change  his  dress,  threw  himself  into  the  saddle,  and,  followed 
by  a  single  servant,  set  off  for  Berkshire.  At  the  sound,  the 
earl  started  from  his  seat  and  ran  to  the  window,  with  the 
momentary  purpose  of  recalling  the  unworthy  commission  with 
which  he  had  entrusted  one  of  whom  he  used  to  say,  he  knew 
no  virtuous  property  save  affection  to  his  patron.  But  Varney 
was  already  beyond  call;  and  the  bright  starry  firmament, 
which  the  age  considered  as  the  Book  of  Fate,  lying  spread 
before  Leicester  when  he  opened  the  casement,  diverted  him 
from  his  better  and  more  manly  purpose. 

"  There  they  roll,  on  their  silent  but  potential  course, "  said 
the  earl,  looking  around  him,  "  without  a  voice  which  speaks 
to  our  ear,  but  not  without  influences  which  affect,  at  every 
change,  the  indwellers  of  this  vile  earthly  planet.  This,  if 
astrologers  fable  not,  is  the  very  crisis  of  my  fate !  The  hour 
approaches  of  which  I  was  taught  to  beware — the  hour,  too, 
which  I  was  encouraged  to  hope  for.  A  king  was  the  word — 
but  how?  The  crown  matrimonial — all  hopes  of  that  are  gone ; 
let  them  go.  The  rich  "Netherlands  have  demanded  me  for 
their  leader,  and,  irouJr/  Elizabeth  consent,  would  yield  to  me 
their  crown.  And  haVi  I  not  such  a  claim,  even  in  this  king- 
dom? That  of  Yor.kf  descending  from  George  of  Clarence  to 
the  house  of  .Huntirigdon,  which,  this  lady  failing,  may  have 
a  fair  chance— Himtrngdon  is  of  my  house.  But  I  will  plunge 
no  deeper  in  these-  high  mysteries.  Let  me  hold  my  course 
in  silence  for  a  v^hile,  and  in  obscurity,  like  a  subterranean 
river:  the  tiine  shall  come  that  I  will  burst  forth  in  my 
strength,  and  bear  all  opposition  before  me." 

While  Leicester  was  thus  stupifying  the  remonstrances  of 
his  own  coa^cience  by  appealing  to  political  necessity  for  his 


KENIL  WORTH.  285 

apology,  or  losing  himself  amidst  the  wild  dreams  of  ambition, 
his  agent  left  town  and  tower  behiad  him,  on  his  hasty  jour- 
ney to  Berkshire.  He  also  nourished  high  hope.  He  had 
brought  Lord  Leicester  to  the  poiat  which  he  had  desired,  of 
committing  to  him  the  most  intimate  recesses  of  his  breast, 
and  of  using  him  as  the  channel  of  his  most  confidential  inter- 
course with  his  lady.  Henceforward  it  would,  he  foresaw, 
be  difficult  for  his  patron  either  to  dispense  with  his  services 
or  refuse  his  requests,  however  unreasonable.  And  if  this 
disdainful  dame,  as  he  termed  the  countess,  should  comply 
with  the  request  of  her  husband,  Varney,  her  pretended  hus- 
band, must  needs  become  so  situated  with  respect  to  her  that 
there  was  no  knowing  where  his  audacity  might  be  bounded; 
perhaps  not  till  circumstances  enabled  him  to  obtain  a  triumph 
which  he  thought  of  with  a  mixture  of  fiendish  feelings,  in 
which  revenge  for  her  previous  scorn  was  foremost  and  pre- 
dominant. Again  he  contemplated  the  possibility  of  her 
being  totally  intractable,  and  refusing  obstinately  to  play  the 
part  assigned  to  her  iu  the  drama  at  Kenilworth. 

"  Alasco  must  then  do  his  part, "  he  said.  "  Sickness  must 
serve  her  Majesty  as  an  excuse  for  not  receiving  the  homage 
of  Mrs.  Varney — ay,  and  a  sore  and  a  wasting  sickness  it  may 
prove,  should  Elizabeth  continue  to  cast  so  favourable  an  eye 
on  my  Lord  of  Leicester.  I  will  not  forego  the  chance  of 
being  favourite  of  a  monarch  for  want  of  determiaed  measures, 
should  these  be  necessary.  Forward,  good  horse — forward: 
ambition,  and  haughty  hope  of  power,  pleasure,  and  revenge, 
strike  their  stings  as  deep  through  my  bosom  as  I  plunge  the 
rowels  in  thy  flanks.  On,  good  horse — on :  the  devil  urge*  us 
both  forward." 


286  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 


CHAPTEK   XXII. 

Say  that  my  beauty  was  but  small, 

Among  court  ladies  all  despised, 
"Why  didst  thou  rend  it  from  that  hall, 

Where,  scornful  earl,  'twas  dearly  prized? 

No  more  thou  com'st  with  wonted  speed, 

Thy  once  beloved  bride  to  see ; 
But  be  she  alive,  or  be  she  dead, 

I  fear,  stern  earl,  's  the  same  to  thee. 

Cumnor  Hall,  by  William  Julius  Mickle. 

The  ladies  of  fashion  of  tlie  present,  or  of  any  other,  period 
must  have  allowed  that  the  young  and  lovely  Countess  of  Leices- 
ter had,  besides  her  youth  and  beauty,  two  qualities  which 
entitled  her  to  a  place  amongst  women  of  rank  and  distinction. 
She  displayed,  as  we  have  seen  in  her  interview  with  the  ped- 
lar, a  liberal  promptitude  to  make  unnecessary  pui-chases,  solely 
for  the  jDleasure  of  acquiring  useless  and  showy  trifles,  which 
ceased  to  please  as  soon  as  they  were  possessed;  and  she  was, 
besides,  apt  to  spend  a  considerable  space  of  time  every  day 
in  adorning  her  person,  although  the  varied  splendour  of  her 
attire  could  only  attract  the  half-satii-ical  praise  of  the  precise 
Janet,  or  an  approving  glance  from  the  bright  eyes  which  wit- 
nessed their  own  beams  of  triumph  reflected  from  the  mirror. 

The  Countess  Amy  had,  indeed,  to  plead  for  indulgence  in 
those  frivolous  tastes,  that  the  education  of  the  times  had 
done  little  or  nothing  for  a  mind  naturally  gay  and  averse  to 
study.  If  she  had  not  loved  to  collect  finery  and  to  wear  it, 
she  might  have  woven  tapestry  or  sewed  embroidery,  till  her 
labours  spread  in  gay  profusion  all  over  the  walls  and  seats  at 
Lidcote  Hall;  or  she  might  have  varied  Minerva's  labours 
with  the  task  of  preparing  a  mighty  pudding  against  the  time 
that  Sir  Hugh  Robsart  returned  from  the  greenwood.  But 
Amy  had  no  natural  genius  either  for  the  loom,  the  needle,  or 
the  receipt-book.  Her  mother  had  died  in  [Amy's]  infancy; 
her  father  contradicted  her  in  nothing;  and  Tressilian,  the 
only  one  that  approached  her  who  was  able  or  desirous  to 


KENILWORTH.  287 

attend  to  the  cultivation  of  lier  mind,  had  much  hurt  his  in- 
terest with  her  by  assuming  too  eagerly  the  task  of  a  precep- 
tor ;  so  that  he  was  regarded  by  the  lively,  indulged,  and  idle 
girl  with  some  fear  and  much  respect,  but  with  little  or  noth- 
ing of  that  softer  emotion  which  it  had  been  his  hope  and  his 
ambition  to  mspire.  And  thus  her  heart  lay  readily  open, 
and  her  fancy  became  easUy  captivated  by  the  noble  exterior 
and  graceful  deportment  and  complacent  flattery  of  Leicester, 
even  before  he  was  known  to  her  as  the  dazzling  minion  of 
wealth  and  power. 

The  frequent  visits  of  Leicester  at  Cumnor  during  the  earlier 
part  of  their  union  had  reconciled  the  countess  to  the  solitude 
and  privacy  to  which  she  was  condemned;  but  when  these 
visits  became  rarer  and  more  rare,  and  when  the  void  was  filled 
up  with  letters  of  excuse,  not  always  very  warmly  expressed, 
and  generally  extremely  brief,  discontent  and  suspicion  began 
to  haimt  those  splendid  apartments  which  love  had  fitted  up 
for  beauty.  Her  answers  to  Leicester  conveyed  these  feelings 
too  blimtly,  and  pressed  more  naturally  than  prudently  that 
she  might  be  relieved  from  this  obscure  and  secluded  residence 
by  the  earl's  acknowledgment  of  their  mai-riage;  and  in  ar- 
ranging her  arguments,  with  all  the  skill  she  was  mistress  of, 
she  ti'usted  chiefly  to  the  warmth  of  the  entreaties  with  which 
she  urged  them.  Sometimes  she  even  ventured  to  mingle 
reproaches,  of  which  Leicester  conceived  he  had  good  reason 
to  complain. 

"I  have  made  her  countess,"  he  said  to  Vamey;  "surely 
she  might  wait  till  it  consisted  with  my  pleasure  that  she 
should  put  on  the  coronet?" 

The  Countess  Amy  viewed  the  subject  in  directly  an  oppo- 
site light. 

"  What  signifies, "  she  said,  "  that  I  have  rank  and  honour 
in  reality,  if  I  am  to  live  an  obscure  prisoner,  without  either 
society  or  observance,  and  suffering  in  my  character  as  one  of 
dubious  or  disgraced  reputation?  I  care  not  for  all  those 
strings  of  pearl  which  you  fret  me  by  warping  into  my  tresses, 
Janet.  I  tell  you  that,  at  Lidcote  Hall,  if  I  put  but  a  fresh 
rosebud  among  my  hair,  my  good  father  would  call  me  to  him 


288  -W  AVERLEY  NOVELS. 

that  lie  miglit  see  it  more  closely ;  and  the  kind  old  curate 
would  smile,  and  Master  Mumblazen  would  say  something 
about  roses  gules;  and  now  I  sit  here,  decked  out  like  an 
image  with  gold  and  gems,  and  no  one  to  see  my  finery  but 
you,  Janet.  There  was  the  poor  Tressilian,  too ;  but  it  avails 
not  speaking  of  him." 

"It  doth  not  indeed,  madam,"  said  her  prudent  attendant; 
"  and  verily  you  make  me  sometimes  wish  you  would  not  speak 
of  him  so  often  or  so  rashly." 

"  It  signifies  nothing  to  warn  me,  Janet, "  said  the  impatient 
and  incorrigible  countess ;  "  I  was  born  free,  though  I  am  now 
mewed  up  like  some  fine  foreign  slave,  rather  than  the  wife  of 
an  English  noble.  I  bore  it  all  with  pleasure  while  I  was 
sure  he  loved  me ;  but  now  my  tongue  and  heart  shall  be  free, 
let  them  fetter  these  limbs  as  they  will.  I  tell  thee,  Janet,  I 
love  my  husband — I  will  love  him  till  my  latest  breath — I 
cannot  cease  to  love  him,  even  if  I  would,  or  if  he — which, 
God  knows,  may  chance — should  cease  to  love  me.  But  I 
will  say,  and  loudly,  I  would  have  been  happier  than  I  now 
am  to  have  remained  in  Lidcote  Hall ;  even  although  I  must 
have  married  poor  Tressilian,  with  his  melancholy  look,  and 
his  head  full  of  learning,  which  I  cared  not  for.  He  said,  if 
I  would  read  his  favourite  volumes,  there  would  come  a  time 
that  I  should  be  glad  of  having  done  so.  I  think  it  is  come 
now. " 

"  I  bought  you  some  books,  madam, "  said  Janet,  "  from  a 
lame  fellow  who  sold  them  in  the  market-place,  and  who 
stared  something  boldly  at  me,  I  promise  you." 

"Let  me  see  them,  Janet,"  said  the  countess;  "but  let 
them  not  be  of  your  own  precise  cast.  How  is  this,  most 
righteous  damsel?  A  Pair  of  Snuffers  for  the  Golden  Candle- 
stick— A  Handful  of  Myrrh  and  Hyssop  to  put  a  Sick  Soul  to 
Purgation — A  Prauyht  of  Wafer  from  the  Valley  of  Baca — > 
Foxes  and  Firebrands.     What  gear  caU  you  this,  maiden?" 

"Nay,  madam,"  said  Janet,  "it  was  but  fitting  and  seemly 
to  put  grace  in  your  ladyship's  way;  but  an  you  will  none  of 
it,  there  are  play-books  and  poet-books,  I  trow." 

The  countess  proceeded  carelessly  in  her  examination,  turn* 


KENIL  WORTH.  289 

ing  over  such  rare  volumes  as  would  now  make  the  fortune  of 
twenty  retail  booksellers.  Here  was  a  Boke  of  Cookery,  inv 
Ijrinted  hy  Richard  Lant,  and  Skelton's  Books — The  Passtivie 
of  the  People — The  Castle  of  KnowJ^rj<^,  etc.  But  neither  to 
this  lore  did  the  countess's  heart  incline,  and  joyfully  did  she 
start  up  from  the  listless  task  of  turning  over  the  leaves  of  the 
pamphlets,  and  hastily  did  she  scatter  them  through  the  floor, 
when  the  rapid  clatter  of  horses'  feet,  heard  in  the  courtyard, 
called  her  to  the  window,  exclaiming,  *'It  is  Leicester! — it  is 
my  noble  earl ! — it  is  my  Dudley !  Every  stroke  of  his  horse's 
hoof  sounds  like  a  note  of  lordly  music!" 

There  was  a  brief  bustle  in  the  mansion,  and  Foster,  with, 
his  downward  look  and  sullen  manner,  entered  the  apartment 
to  say,  "  That  Master  Richard  Varney  was  arrived  from  my 
lord,  having  ridden  all  night,  and  craved  to  speak  with  her 
ladyship  instantly. " 

"Yarney!"  said  the  disappointed  countess ;  "and  to  speak 
with  me ! — pshaw !  But  he  comes  with  news  from  Leicester, 
so  admit  him  instantly." 

Varney  entered  her  dressing-apartment,  where  she  sat  ar- 
rayed in  her  native  loveliness,  adorned  with  aU  that  Janet's 
art,  and  a  rich  and  tasteful  undi-ess,  could  bestow.  But  the 
most  beautiful  part  of  her  attire  was  her  profuse  and  luxuriant 
light-brown  locks,  which  floated  in  such  rich  abimdance  around 
a  neck  that  resembled  a  swan's,  and  over  a  bosom  heaving  with 
anxious  expectation,  which  communicated  a  hurried  tinge  of 
red  to  her  whole  countenance. 

Varney  entered  the  room  in  the  dress  in  which  he  had  waited 
on  his  master  that  morning  to  court,  the  splendour  of  which 
made  a  strange  contrast  with  the  disorder  arising  from  hasty 
riding  during  a  dark  night  and  foul  ways.  His  brow  bore  an 
anxious  and  hurried  expression,  as  one  who  has  that  to  say  of 
which  he  doubts  the  reception,  and  who  hath  yet  posted  on 
from  the  necessity  of  communicating  his  tidings.  The  coun- 
tess's anxious  eye  at  once  caught  the  alarm  as  she  exclaimed, 
"  You  bring  news  from  my  lord.  Master  Varney?  Gracious 
Heaven!  is  he  ill?" 

"No,  madam,  thank  Heaven!"  said  Varney.  "Compose 
19 


290  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

yourself,  and  permit  me  to  take  breatli  ere  I  communicate  my 
tidings." 

"  No  breath,  sir, "  replied  the  lady,  impatiently ;  "  I  know 
your  theatrical  arts.  Since  your  breath  hath  sufficed  to  bring 
you  hither,  it  may  suffice  to  tell  your  tale,  at  least  briefly, 
and  in  the  gross," 

"Madam,"  answered  Varney,  "we  are  not  alone,  and  my 
lord's  message  was  for  your  ear  only." 

"  Leave  us,  Janet,  and  Master  Foster, "  said  the  lady ;  "  but 
remain  in  the  next  apartment,  and  within  call." 

Foster  and  his  daughter  retired,  agreeably  to  the  Lady 
Leicester's  commands,  into  the  next  apartment,  which  was  the 
■withdrawing-room.  The  door  which  led  from  the  sleeping- 
chamber  was  then  carefully  shut  and  bolted,  and  the  father 
and  daughter  remained  both  in  a  posture  of  anxious  attention, 
the  first  with  a  stern,  suspicious,  lowering  cast  of  countenance, 
and  Janet  with  folded  hands,  and  looks  which  seemed  divided 
betwixt  her  desire  to  know  the  fortunes  of  her  mistress  and 
her  prayers  to  Heaven  for  her  safety.  Anthony  Foster  seemed 
himself  to  have  some  idea  of  what  was  passing  through  his 
daughter's  mind,  for  he  crossed  the  apartment  and  took  her 
anxiously  by  the  hand,  saying,  "  That  is  right :  pray,  Janet — 
pray ;  we  have  all  need  of  prayers,  and  some  of  us  more  than 
others.  Pray,  Janet ;  I  would  pray  myself,  but  I  must  listen 
to  what  goes  on  within :  evil  has  been  brewing,  love — evil  has 
been  brewing.  God  forgive  our  sins ;  but  Varney's  sudden  and 
strange  arrival  bodes  us  no  good." 

Janet  had  never  before  heard  her  father  excite  or  even  per- 
mit her  attention  to  anjrthing  which  passed  in  their  mysterious 
family,  and  now  that  he  did  so,  his  voice  sounded  in  her  ear — 
she  knew  not  why — ^like  that  of  a  screech-owl  denouncing 
some  deed  of  terror  and  of  woe.  She  turned  her  eyes  fear- 
fully towards  the  door,  almost  as  if  she  expected  some  sounds 
of  horror  to  be  heard,  or  some  sight  of  fear  to  display  itself. 

All,  however,  was  as  still  as  death,  and  the  voices  of  those 
who  spoke  in  the  inner  chamber  were,  if  they  spoke  at  all, 
carefully  subdued  to  a  tone  which  could  not  be  heard  in  the 
next.     At  once,  however,  they  were  heard  to  speak  fast,  thick. 


KENILWORTH.  291 

and  hastily ;  and  presently  after  the  voice  of  the  countess  was 
heard  exclaiming,  at  the  highest  pitch  to  which  indignation 
could  raise  it,  "  Undo  the  door,  sir,  I  command  you !  Undo 
the  door  1  I  will  have  no  other  reply!"  she  continued,  drown- 
ing with  her  vehement  accents  the  low  and  muttered  sounds 
which  Varney  was  heard  to  utter  betwixt  whiles.  "What 
ho!  without  there!"  she  persisted,  accompanying  her  words 
with  shrieks,  "Janet,  alarm  the  house.  Foster,  break  open 
the  door.  I  am  detained  here  by  a  traitor.  Use  axe  and 
lever,  Master  Foster — I  will  be  your  warrant." 

"  It  shall  not  need,  madam, "  Varney  was  at  length  distinctly 
heard  to  say.  "  If  you  please  to  expose  my  lord's  important 
concerns  and  your  own  to  the  general  ear,  I  will  not  be  your 
hinderance." 

The  door  was  unlocked  and  thrown  open,  and  Janet  and  her 
father  rushed  in,  anxious  to  learn  the  cause  of  these  reiterated 
exclamations. 

When  they  entered  the  apartment,  Varney  stood  by  the  door 
grindhig  his  teeth,  with  an  expression  in  which  rage,  and 
shame,  and  fear,  had  each  their  share.  The  countess  stood  ia 
the  midst  of  her  apartment  like  a  juvenile  pythoness,  under 
the  influence  of  the  prophetic  fury.  The  veins  in  her  beauti- 
ful forehead  started  into  swoln  blue  lines  through  the  hurried 
impulse  of  her  articulation,  her  cheek  and  neck  glowed  like 
scarlet,  her  eyes  were  like  those  of  an  imprisoned  eagle,  flash- 
ing red  lightnmg  on  the  foes  whom  it  cannot  reach  with  its 
talons.  Were  it  possible  for  one  of  the  Graces  to  have  been 
animated  by  a  Fury,  the  countenance  could  not  have  united 
such  beauty  with  so  much  hatred,  scorn,  defiance,  and  resent- 
ment. The  gesture  and  attitude  corresponded  with  the  voice 
and  looks,  and  altogether  presented  a  spectacle  which  was  at 
once  beautiful  and  fearful ;  so  much  of  the  sublime  had  the 
energy  of  passion  united  with  the  Countess  Amy's  natural 
loveliness.  Janet,  as  soon  as  the  door  was  open,  ran  to  her 
mistress ;  and  more  slowly,  yet  with  more  haste  than  he  was 
wont,  Anthony  Foster  went  to  Kichard  Varney. 

"  In  the  Truth's  name,  what  ails  your  ladyship?"  said  the 
former. 


292  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

"What,  in  tlie  name  of  Satan,  liave  you  done  to  her?"  said 
Poster  to  his  friend. 

"Who,  I? — nothing,"  answered  Varney,  but  with  sunken 
head  and  sullen  voice — "nothing  but  communicated  to  her 
her  lord's  commands,  which,  if  the  lady  list  not  to  obey,  she 
knows  better  how  to  answer  it  than  I  may  pretend  to  do." 

"Now,  by  Heaven,  Janet,"  said  the  coimtess,  "the  false 
traitor  lies  in  his  throat!  He  must  needs  lie,  for  he  speaks 
to  the  dishonour  of  my  noble  lord;  he  must  needs  lie  doubly, 
for  he  speaks  to  gain  ends  of  his  own,  equally  execrable  and 
imattainable." 

"  You  have  misapprehended  me,  lady, "  said  Varney,  with  a 
sulky  species  of  submission  and  apology ;  "  let  this  matter  rest 
till  your  passion  be  abated,  and  I  will  explain  all." 

"Thou  shalt  never  have  an  opportunity  to  do  so,"  said  the' 
countess.  "  Look  at  him,  Janet.  He  is  fairly  dressed,  hath 
the  outside  of  a  gentleman,  and  hither  he  came  to  persuade 
me  it  was  my  lord's  pleasu,re — nay,  more,  my  wedded  lord's 
commands — that  I  should  go  with  him  to  Kenilworth,  and 
before  the  Queen  and  nobles,  and  in  presence  of  my  own 
wedded  lord,  that  I  should  acknowledge  him — Mm  there,  that 
very  cloak-brushing,  shoe-cleaning  fellow — Mm  there,  my 
lord's  lackey,  for  my  liege  lord  and  husband;  furnishing 
against  myself,  great  God!  whenever  I  was  to  vindicate  my 
right  and  my  rank,  such  weapons  as  would  hew  my  just  claim 
from  the  root,  and  destroy  my  character  to  be  regarded  as  an 
honourable  matron  of  the  English  nobility!" 

"  You  hear  her,  Eoster,  and  you,  yoimg  maiden,  hear  this 
lady, "  answered  Varney,  taking  advantage  of  the  pause  which 
the  countess  had  made  in  her  charge,  more  for  lack  of  breath 
than  for  lack  of  matter — "  you  hear  that  her  heat  only  objects 
to  me  the  course  which  our  good  lord,  for  the  purpose  to  keep 
certain  matters  secret,  suggests  in  the  very  letter  which  she 
holds  in  her  hands." 

Foster  here  attempted  to  interfere  with  a  face  of  authority, 
which  he  thought  became  the  charge  intrusted  to  him.  "  Nay, 
lady,  I  must  needs  say  you  are  over  hasty  in  this.  Such  de- 
ceit is  not  utterly  to  be  condemned  when   practised  for  a 


KENILWORTS  293 

rigliteous  end ;  and  thus  even  the  patriarch  Abraham  feigned 
Sarah  to  be  his  sister  when  they  went  down  to  Egypt." 

"  Ay,  sir, "  answered  the  contess ;  "  but  God  rebuked  that 
deceit  even  in  the  father  of  His  chosen  people,  by  the  mouth 
of  the  heathen  Pharaoh.  Out  upon  you,  that  will  read  Scrip- 
ture only  to  copy  those  things  which  are  held  out  to  us  as 
warnings,  not  as  examples!" 

"  But  Sarah  disputed  not  the  will  of  her  husband,  an  it  be 
your  pleasure, "  said  Foster,  in  reply ;  "  but  did  as  Abraham 
commanded,  calling  herself  his  sister,  that  it  might  be  well 
with  her  husband  for  her  sake,  and  that  his  soul  might  live  be- 
cause of  her  beauty." 

"Now,  so  Heaven  pardon  me  my  useless  anger,"  answered 
the  countess,  "  thou  art  as  daring  a  hypocrite  as  yonder  fellow 
is  an  impudent  deceiver !  Never  will  I  believe  that  the  noble 
Dudley  gave  countenance  to  so  dastardly,  so  dishonourable  a 
plan.  Thus  I  tread  on  his  infamy,  if  indeed  it  be,  and  thus 
desti'oy  its  remembrance  forever!" 

So  saying,  she  tore  in  pieces  Leicester's  letter,  and  stamped 
in  the  extremity  of  impatience,  as  if  she  would  have  annihi- 
lated the  minute  fragments  into  which  she  had  rent  it. 

"  Bear  witness, "  said  Varney,  collecting  himself,  *'  she  hath 
torn  my  lord's  letter,  in  order  to  burden  me  with  the  scheme 
of  his  de\dsing ;  and  although  it  promises  nought  but  danger 
and  trouble  to  me,  she  would  lay  it  to  my  charge,  as  if  I  had 
any  purpose  of  mine  ovra  in  it." 

"Thou  liest,  thou  treacherous  slave!"  said  the  countess,  in 
spite  of  Janet's  attempts  to  keep  her  silent,  in  the  sad  fore- 
sight that  her  vehemence  might  only  furnish  arms  against 
herseK.  "Thou  liest!"  she  continued.  "Let  me  go,  Janet. 
Were  it  the  last  word  I  have  to  speak,  he  lies :  he  had  his 
own  foul  ends  to  seek;  and  broader  he  would  have  displayed 
them,  had  my  passion  permitted  me  to  preserve  the  silence 
which  at  iirst  encouraged  him  to  unfold  his  vile  projects." 

"  Madam, "  said  Yarney,  overwhelmed  in  spite  of  his  etf ront- 
ery,  "  I  entreat  you  to  believe  yourself  mistaken." 

"  As  soon  will  I  believe  light  darkness, "  said  the  enraged 
countess.     "  Have  I  drank  of  oblivion?     Do  I  not  remember 


294  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

former  passages,  wliicli,  known  to  Leicester,  had  given  thee 
the  preferment  of  a  gallows  instead  of  the  honour  of  his  inti- 
macy? I  would  I  were  a  man  but  for  live  minutes!  It  were 
space  enough  to  make  a  craven  like  thee  confess  his  villainy. 
But  go — begone !  Tell  thy  master  that,  when  I  take  the  fool 
course  to  which  such  scandalous  deceits  as  thou  hast  recom- 
mended on  his  behalf  must  necessarily  lead  me,  I  wiU  give 
him  a  rival  something  worthy  of  the  name.  He  shall  not  be 
supplanted  by  an  ignominious  lackey,  whose  best  fortune  is  to 
catch  a  gift  of  his  master's  last  suit  of  clothes  ere  it  is  thread- 
bare, and  who  is  only  fit  to  seduce  a  suburb  wench  by  the 
bravery  of  new  roses  in  his  master's  old  pantoufles.  Go — 
begone,  sir  j  I  scorn  thee  so  much  that  I  am  ashamed  to  have 
been  angry  with  thee." 

Varney  left  the  room  with  a  mute  expression  of  rage,  and 
was  followed  by  Foster,  whose  apprehension,  naturally  slow, 
was  overpowered  by  the  eager  and  abundant  discharge  of  in- 
dignation which,  for  the  first  time,  he  had  heard  burst  from 
the  lips  of  a  being  who  had  seemed  till  that  moment  too  lan- 
guid and  too  gentle  to  nurse  an  angry  thought  or  utter  au 
intemperate  expression.  Foster,  therefore,  pursued  Varney 
from  place  to  place,  persecuting  him  with  interrogatories,  to 
which  the  other  replied  not  until  they  were  in  the  opposite 
side  of  the  quadrangle,  and  in  the  old  library,  with  which  the 
reader  has  already  been  made  acquainted.  Here  he  turned 
round  on  his  persevering  follower,  and  thus  addressed  him,  in 
a  tone  tolerably  equal ;  that  brief  walk  having  been  sufficient 
to  give  one  so  habituated  to  command  his  temper  time  to  rally 
and  recover  his  presence  of  mind. 

"  Tony, "  he  said,  with  his  usual  sneering  laugh,  "  it  avails 
not  to  deny  it — the  woman  and  the  devil,  who,  as  thine  oracle 
Holdforth  will  confirm  to  thee,  cheated  man  at  the  beginning, 
have  this  day  proved  more  powerful  than  my  discretion.  Yon 
termagant  looked  so  tempting,  and  had  the  art  to  preserve  her 
countenance  so  naturally,  while  I  communicated  my  lord's 
message,  that,  by  my  faith,  I  thought  I  might  say  some  little 
thing  for  myself.  She  thinks  she  hath  my  head  under  her 
girdle  now,  but  she  is  deceived.     Where  is  Doctor  Alasco?" 


KEXILWORTH.  295 

"  In  his  laboratory, "  answered  Foster  j  "  it  is  tlie  hour  lie  is 
not  spoken  withal ;  we  must  wait  till  noon  is  past,  or  spoil  his 

important What  said  I,  important?     I  would  say,  inter* 

rupt  his  divine  studies." 

"Ay,  he  studies  the  devil's  divinity,"  said  Varney;  "but 
when  I  want  him  one  hour  must  suffice  as  well  as  another. 
Lead  the  way  to  his  pandemonium." 

So  spoke  Varney,  and  with  hasty  and  perturbed  steps  fol- 
lowed Foster,  who  conducted  him  through  private  passages, 
many  of  which  were  wellnigh  ruinous,  to  the  opposite  side  of 
the  quadrangle,  where,  in  a  subterranean  apartment,  now  oc- 
cupied by  the  chemist  Alasco,  one  of  the  abbots  of  Abing- 
don, who  had  a  turn  for  the  occult  sciences,  had,  much  to  the 
scandal  of  his  convent,  established  a  laboratory,  in  which,  like 
other  fools  of  the  period,  he  spent  much  precious  time,  and 
money  besides,  in  the  pursuit  of  the  grand  arcanum. 

Anthony  Foster  paused  before  the  door,  which  was  scrupu- 
lously secured  within,  and  again  showed  a  marked  hesitation 
to  disturb  the  sage  in  his  operations.  But  Varney,  less  scru- 
pulous, roused  him,  by  knocking  and  voice,  until  at  length, 
slowly  and  reluctantly,  the  inmate  of  the  apartment  undid  the 
door.  The  chemist  appeared,  with  his  eyes  bleared  with  the 
heat  and  vapours  of  the  stove  or  alembic  over  which  he  brooded, 
and  the  interior  of  his  cell  displayed  the  confused  assemblage 
of  heterogeneous  substances  and  extraordinary  implements 
belonging  to  his  profession.  The  old  man  was  muttering, 
with  spiteful  impatience,  "  Am  I  for  ever  to  be  recalled  to  the 
affairs  of  earth  from  those  of  heaven?" 

"  To  the  affairs  of  hell, "  answered  Varney,  "  for  that  is  thy 
proper  element.     Foster,  we  need  thee  at  our  conference." 

Foster  slowly  entered  the  room.  Varney,  following,  barred 
the  door,  and  they  betook  themselves  to  secret  council. 

In  the  mean  while,  the  countess  traversed  the  apartment, 
with  shame  and  anger  contending  on  her  lovely  cheek. 

"The  villain,"  she  said — "•the  cold-blooded,  calculating 
slave !  But  I  immasked  him,  Janet — I  made  the  snake  imcoil 
aU  his  folds  before  me,  and  crawl  abroad  in  his  naked  deform- 


296  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

ity.  I  susiDended  my  resentment,  at  the  danger  of  suffocatktg 
under  the  effort,  until  he  had  let  me  see  the  very  bottom  of  a 
heart  more  foul  than  hell's  darkest  corner.  And  thou,  Leices- 
ter, is  it  possible  thou  couldst  bid  me  for  a  moment  deny 
my  wedded  right  in  thee,  or  thyself  yield  it  to  another !  But 
it  is  impossible :  the  villain  has  lied  in  all.  Janet,  I  will  not 
remain  here  longer.  I  fear  him — I  fear  thy  father ;  I  grieve 
to  say  it,  Janet,  but  I  fear  thy  father,  and,  worst  of  all,  this 
odious  Varney.     I  will  escape  from  Cumnor." 

"  Alas !  madam,  whither  would  you  fly,  or  by  what  means 
will  you  escape  from  these  walls?" 

"  I  know  not,  Janet, "  said  the  unfortunate  young  lady,  look- 
ing upwards  and  clasping  her  hands  together — "  I  know  nob 
where  I  shall  fly,  or  by  Avhat  means ;  but  I  am  certain  the 
God  I  have  served  will  not  abandon  me  in  this  dreadful  crisis, 
for  I  am  in  the  hands  of  wicked  men." 

"  Do  not  think  so,  dear  lady, "  said  Janet ;  "  my  father  is 
stern  and  strict  in  his  temper,  and  severely  true  to  his  trust  j 
but  yet " 

At  this  moment,  Anthony  Foster  entered  the  apartment 
bearing  in  his  hand  a  glass  cup  and  a  small  flask.  His  manner 
was  singular  J  for,  while  approaching  the  countess  with  the 
respect  due  to  her  rank,  he  had  tiU  this  time  suffered  to  be- 
come visible,  or  had  been  unable  to  suppress,  the  obdurate 
sulkiness  of  his  natural  disposition,  which,  as  is  usual  with 
those  of  his  unhapppy  temper,  was  chiefl}^  exerted  towards 
those  over  whom  circumstances  gave  him  control.  But  at 
present  he  showed  nothing  of  that  sullen  consciousness  of 
authority  which  he  was  wont  to  conceal  under  a  clumsy  affec- 
tation of  civility  and  deference,  as  a  ruffian  hides  his  pistols 
and  bludgeon  under  his  iU-fashioned  gaberdine.  And  yet  it 
seemed  as  if  his  smile  was  more  in  fear  than  courtesy,  and  as 
if,  while  he  pressed  the  countess  to  taste  of  the  choice  cordial, 
which  should  refresh  her  spirits  after  her  late  alarm,  he  was 
conscious  of  meditating  some  farther  injury.  His  hand  trem- 
bled also,  his  voice  faltered,  and  his  whole  outward  behavior 
exhibited  so  much  that  was  suspicious,  that  his  daughter 
Janet,  after  she  had  stood  looking  at  him  in  astonishment  for 


KENILWORTH.  297 

some  seconds,  seemed  at  once  to  collect  herself  to  execute  some 
hardy  resolution,  raised  her  head,  assumed  an  attitude  and 
gait  of  determination  and  authority,  and  walking  slowly  be- 
twixt her  father  and  her  mistress,  took  the  salver  from  the 
hand  of  the  former,  and  said  in  a  low,  but  marked  and  de- 
cided tone,  "  Father,  I  will  fill  for  my  noble  mistress,  when 
such  is  her  pleasure." 

'*Thou,  my  chUd!"  said  Foster,  eagerly  and  apprehen- 
sively; "no,  my  child,  it  is  not  thou  shalt  render  the  lady  this 
service. " 

"  And  why,  I  pray  you, "  said  Janet,  "  if  it  be  fitting  that 
the  noble  lady  should  partake  of  the  cup  at  all?" 

"  ^Miy — why?"  said  the  seneschal,  hesitating,  and  then 
bursting  into  passion  as  the  readiest  mode  of  supplying  the 
lack  of  all  other  reason.  "  Why,  because  it  is  my  pleasure, 
minion,  that  you  should  not!  Get  you  gone  to  the  evening 
lecture. " 

"  Now,  as  I  hope  to  hear  lecture  again, "  replied  Janet,  "  I 
will  not  go  thither  this  night,  imless  I  am  better  assured  of 
my  mistress's  safety.  Give  me  that  flask,  father;"  and  she 
took  it  from  his  reluctant  hand,  while  he  resigned  it  as  if  con- 
science-struck. "And  now,"  she  said,  "father,  that  which 
shall  benefit  my  mistress  cannot  do  me  prejudice.  Father,  I 
drink  to  you." 

Foster,  without  speaking  a  word,  rushed  on  his  daughter 
and  wrested  the  flask  from  her  hand ;  then,  as  if  embarrassed 
by  what  he  had  done,  and  totally  unable  to  resolve  what  he 
should  do  next,  he  stood  with  it  in  his  hand,  one  foot  advanced 
and  the  other  drawn  back,  glaring  on  his  daughter  with  a 
countenance  in  which  rage,  fear,  and  convicted  villainy  formed 
a  hideous  combination. 

"This  is  strange,  my  father,"  said  Janet,  keeping  her  eye 
fixed  on  his,  in  the  manner  in  which  those  who  have  the 
charge  of  Ivmatics  are  said  to  overawe  their  unhappy  patients ; 
"will  you  neither  let  me  serve  my  lady  nor  drink  to  her 
myseK?" 

The  courage  of  the  countess  sustained  her  through  this 
dreadful  scene,  of  which  the  import  was  not  the  less  obvious 


298  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

that  it  was  not  even  hinted  at.  She  preserved  even  the  rash 
carelessness  of  her  temper,  and  though  her  cheek  had  grown 
pale  at  the  first  alarm,  her  eye  was  calm  and  almost  scornful. 
"Will  you  taste  this  rare  cordial,  Master  Foster?  Perhaps 
you  will  not  yourself  refuse  to  pledge  us,  though  you  permit 
not  Janet  to  do  so.     Drink,  sir,  I  pray  you." 

"  I  will  not, "  answered  Foster. 

"And  for  whom,  then,  is  the  precious  beverage  reserved, 
sir?"  said  the  countess." 

"For  the  devil,  who  brewed  it!"  answered  Foster;  and, 
turning  on  his  heel,  he  left  the  chamber. 

Janet  looked  at  her  mistress  with  a  countenance  expressive 
in  the  highest  degree  of  shame,  dismay,  and  sorrow. 

"  Do  not  weep  for  me,  Janet, "  said  the  countess,  kindly. 

"  No,  madam, "  replied  her  attendant,  m  a  voice  broken  by 
sobs,  "  it  is  not  for  you  I  weep,  it  is  for  myself — it  is  for  that 
unhappy  man.  Those  who  are  dishonoured  before  man,  those 
who  are  condemned  by  God,  have  cause  to  mourn,  not  those 
who  are  innocent!  Farewell,  madam!"  she  said,  hastily 
assuming  the  mantle  in  which  she  was  wont  to  go  abroad. 

"Do  you  leave  me,  Janet?"  said  her  mistress — "desert  me 
in  such  an  evil  strait?" 

"Desert  you,  madam!"  exclaimed  Janet;  and,  running 
back  to  her  mistress,  she  imprinted  a  thousand  kisses  on  her 
hand. — "desert  you!  may  the  Hope  of  my  trust  desert  me 
when  I  do  so !  No,  madam ;  well  you  said  the  God  you  serve 
will  open  you  a  path  for  deliverance.  There  is  a  way  of  es- 
cape ;  I  have  prayed  night  and  day  for  light,  that  I  might  see 
how  to  act  betwixt  my  duty  to  yonder  unhappy  man  and  that 
which  I  owe  to  you.  Sternly  and  fearfully  that  light  has  now 
dawned,  and  I  must  not  shut  the  door  which  God  opens.  Ask 
me  no  more.     I  will  return  in  brief  space." 

So  speaking,  she  wrapped  herself  in  her  mantle,  and  saying 
to  the  old  woman  whom  she  passed  in  the  outer  room  that  she 
was  going  to  evening  prayer,  she  left  the  house. 

Meanwhile,  her  father  had  reached  once  more  the  laboratory, 
where  he  foimd  the  accomplices  of  his  intended  guilt. 

"Has  the  sweet  bird  sipped?"  said  Yarney,  with  half  a 


KEXILWORTH.  299 

smile;  wliile  tlie  astrologer  put  the  same  question  with  his 
eyes,  but  spoke  not  a  word. 

"She  has  not,  nor  she  shall  not  from  my  hands,"  replied 
Poster;  "would  you  have  me  do  murder  in  my  daughter's 
presence?" 

"Wert  thou  not  told,  thou  sullen  and  yet  faint-hearted 
slave,"  answered  Varney,  with  bitterness,  "that  no  murder, 
as  thou  call'st  it,  with  that  staring  look  and  stammering  tone, 
is  designed  in  the  matter?  Wert  thou  not  told  that  a  brief 
illness,  such  as  woman  puts  on  in  very  wantonness,  that  she 
may  wear  her  night  gear  at  noon,  and  lie  on  a  settle  when  she 
should  mind  her  domestic  business,  is  all  here  aimed  at? 
Here  is  a  learned  man  will  swear  it  to  thee,  by  the  key  of  the 
Castle  of  Wisdom." 

"  I  swear  it, "  said  Alasco,  "  that  the  elixir  thou  hast  there 
in  the  flask  will  not  prejudice  life!  I  swear  it  by  that  im- 
mortal and  indestructible  quintessence  of  gold  which  pervades 
every  substance  in  nature,  though  its  secret  existence  can  be 
traced  by  him  only  to  whom  Trismegistus  renders  the  key  of 
the  Cabala." 

"An  oath  of  force,"  said  Varney.  "Foster,  thou  wert 
worse  than  a  pagan  to  disbelieve  it.  Believe  me,  moreover, 
who  swear  by  nothing  but  by  my  own  word,  that,  if  you  be 
not  conformable,  there  is  no  hope — no,  not  a  glimpse  of  hope — 
that  this  thy  leasehold  may  be  transmuted  into  a  copj^hold. 
Thus,  Alasco  will  leave  your  pewter  artillery  untransmigrated, 
and  I,  honest  Anthony,  will  still  have  thee  for  my  tenant, " 

"  I  know  not,  gentlemen,"  said  Foster,  "  where  your  designs 
tend  to ;  but  in  one  thing  I  am  bound  up,  that,  fall  back  fall 
edge,  I  will  have  one  in  this  place  that  may  pray  for  me,  and 
that  one  shall  be  my  daughter.  I  have  lived  ill,  and  the  world 
has  been  too  weighty  with  me ;  but  she  is  as  innocent  as  ever 
she  was  when  on  her  mother's  lap,  and  she,  at  least,  shall  have 
her  portion  in  that  happy  City  whose  walls  ar  of  pure  gold,  and 
the  foundations  garnished  with  all  manner  of  precious  stones." 

"Ay,  T^ny,"  said  Varney,  "that  were  a  paradise  to  thy 
heart's  content.  Debate  the  matter  wich  him,  Doctor  Alasco; 
I  will  be  with  you  anon." 


300  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

ho  speaking,  Varney  arose,  and,  taking  the  flask  from  the 
table,  he  left  the  room. 

"  I  tell  thee,  my  son, "  said  Alasco  to  Foster  as  soon  as  Var- 
ney had  left  them,  "  that,  whatever  this  bold  and  profligate 
railer  may  say  of  the  mighty  science  in  which,  by  Heaven's 
blessing,  I  have  advanced  so  far,  that  I  would  not  call  the 
wisest  of  living  artists  my  better  or  my  teacher.  I  say,  how- 
soever yonder  reprobate  may  scoff  at  things  too  holy  to  be  ap- 
prehended by  men  merely  of  carnal  and  evil  thoughts,  yet 
believe,  that  the  city  beheld  by  St.  Jolm,  in  that  bright  vision 
of  the  Christian  Apocalypse,  that  Kew  Jerusalem  of  which  all 
Christian  men  hope  to  partake,  sets  forth  typically  the  dis- 
covery of  the  Grand  Secret,  whereby  the  most  precious  and 
perfect  of  nature's  works  are  elicited  out  of  her  basest  and 
most  crude  productions ;  just  as  the  light  and  gaudy  butterfly, 
the  most  beautiful  child  of  the  summer's  breeze,  breaks  forth 
from  the  dungeon  of  a  sordid  chrysalis." 

"Master  Holdforth  said  nought  of  this  exposition,"  said 
Foster,  doubtfully;  "and  moreover,  Doctor  Alasco,  the  Holy 
Writ  says  that  the  gold  and  precious  stones  of  the  Holy  City 
are  in  no  sort  for  those  who  work  abomination  or  who  frame 
Kes." 

"Well,  my  son,"  said  the  doctor,  "and  what  is  your  infer- 
ence from  thence?" 

"  That  those, "  said  Foster,  "  who  distil  poisons,  and  admin- 
ister them  in  secrecy,  can  have  no  portion  in  those  unspeak- 
able riches." 

"  You  are  to  distinguish,  my  son, "  replied  the  alchemist, 
"betwixt  that  which  is  necessarily  evil  in  its  progress  and  in 
its  end  also,  and  that  which,  being  evil,  is  nevertheless  capa- 
ble of  working  forth  good.  If,  by  the  death  of  one  person, 
the  happy  period  shall  be  brought  nearer  to  us  in  which  all 
that  is  good  shall  be  attained  by  wishing  its  presence,  all  that 
is  evil  escaped  by  desiring  its  absence ;  in  which  sickness,  and 
pain,  and  sorrow  shall  be  the  obedient  servants  of  human  wis- 
dom, and  made  to  fly  at  the  slightest  signal  of  a  sage;  in 
which  that  which  is  now  richest  and  rarest  shall  be  within  the 
compass  of  every  one  who  shall  be  obedient  to  the  voice  of 


KENILWORTH.  301 

■wisdom ;  when  the  art  of  healmg  shall  be  lost  and  absorbed  in 
the  one  universal  medicine ;  when  sages  shall  become  monarchs 
of  the  earth,  and  death  itself  retreat  before  their  frown — if 
this  blessed  consummation  of  all  things  can  be  hastened  by  the 
slight  circumstance  that  a  frail  earthly  body,  which  must  needs 
partake  corruption,  shall  be  consigned  to  the  grave  a  short 
space  earlier  than  in  the  course  of  nature,  what  is  such  a  sacri- 
fice to  the  advancement  of  the  holy  millennium?" 

"  Millennium  is  the  reign  of  the  saints, "  said  Foster,  some- 
what doubtfully. 

"  Say  it  is  the  reign  of  the  sages,  my  son, "  answered  Alasco  j 
"or  rather  the  reign  of  Wisdom  itself." 

"  I  touched  on  the  question  with  Master  Holdforth  last  exer- 
cising night, "  said  Foster ;  "  but  he  says  your  doctrine  is  het- 
erodox, and  a  damnable  and  false  exposition." 

"  He  is  in  the  bonds  of  ignorance,  my  son, "  answered  Alasco, 
"  and  as  yet  burning  bricks  in  Egypt ;  or,  at  best,  wandering 
in  the  dry  desert  of  Sinai.  Thou  didst  ill  to  speak  to  such  a 
man  of  such  matters.  I  will,  however,  give  thee  proof,  and 
that  shortly,  which  I  wall  defy  that  peevish  divine  to  confute, 
though  he  should  strive  with  me  as  the  magicians  strove  with 
Moses  before  King  Pharaoh.  1  will  do  projection  in  thy 
presence,  my  son — in  thy  very  presence,  and  thine  eyes  shall 
witness  the  truth." 

"  Stick  to  that,  learned  sage, "  said  Varney,  who  at  this 
moment  entered  the  apartment ;  ''  if  he  refuse  the  testimony 
of  thy  tongue,  yet  how  shall  he  deny  that  of  his  own  eyes?" 

"Yarney!"  said  the  adept — "Varney  already  returned  I 
Hast  thou "  he  stopped  short. 

"Have  I  done  mine  errand,  thou  wouldst  say?"  replied 
Varney.  "I  have.  And  thou,"  he  added,  showing  more 
symptoms  of  interest  than  he  had  hitherto  exhibited — "  art 
thou  sure  thou  hast  poured  forth  neither  more  nor  less  than 
the  just  measure?" 

"Ay,"  replied  the  alchemist,  "as  sure  as  men  can  be  in 
these  nice  proportions ;  for  there  is  diversity  of  constitutions. " 
.:  "Kay,  then,"  said  Varney,  "I  fear  nothing.  I  know  thou 
wilt  not  go  a  step  farther  to  the  devil  than  thou  art  justly  con- 


302  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

sidered  for.  Thou  wert  paid  to  create  illness,  and  "vrouldst 
esteem  it  thriftless  prodigality  to  do  murder  at  the  same  price. 
Come,  let  us  each  to  our  chamber.  We  shall  see  the  event 
to-morrow." 

"What  didst  thou  do  to  make  her  swallow  it?"  said  Foster, 
shuddering. 

"Nothing,"  answered  Varney,  "but  looked  on  her  with  that 
aspect  which  governs  madmen,  women,  and  children.  They 
told  me,  in  St.  Luke's  Hospital,  that  I  have  the  right  look  for 
overpowering  a  refractory  patient.  The  keepers  made  me 
their  compliments  on't;  so  I  know  how  to  win  my  bread  when 
my  court  favour  fails  me." 

"And  art  thou  not  afraid,"  said  Foster,  "lest  the  dose  be 
disproportioned  ?" 

"  If  so, "  replied  Varney,  "  she  will  but  sleep  the  sounder, 
and  the  fear  of  that  shall  not  break  my  rest.  Good-night,  my 
masters." 

Anthony  Foster  groaned  heavily,  and  lifted  up  his  hands 
and  eyes.  The  alchemist  intimated  his  purpose  to  continue 
some  experiment  of  high  import  during  the  greater  part  of  the 
night,  and  the  others  separated  to  their  places  of  repose. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 


Now  God  be  good  to  me  in  this  wide  pilgrimage  I 

All  hope  in  human  aid  I  cast  behind  me. 

Oh,  who  would  be  a  woman  ? — who  that  fool,  '. 

A  weeping,  pining,  faithful,  loving  woman? 

She  hath  hard  measure  still  where  she  hopes  kindest. 

And  all  her  bounties  only  make  ingrates. 

Love's  Pilgrimage. 

The  summer  evening  was  closed,  and  Janet,  just  when  her 
longer  stay  might  have  occasioned  suspicion  and  inquiry  in 
that  jealous  household,  returned  to  Cumnor  Place,  and  hast- 
ened to  the  apartment  in  which  she  had  left  her  lady.  She 
found  her  with  her  head  resting  on  her  arms,  and  these 
crossed  upon  a  table  which  stood  before  her.  As  Janet  camo 
in,  she  neither  looked  up  nor  stirred. 


KENILWORTH.  303 

Her  faithful  attendant  ran  to  her  mistress  with  the  speed 
of  lightning,  and  rousing  her  at  the  same  time  with  her  hand, 
conjured  the  countess,  in  the  most  earnest  manner,  to  look  up 
and  say  what  thus  affected  her.  The  unhappy  lady  raised  her 
head  accordingly,  and  looking  on  her  attendant  with  a  ghastly 
eye,  and  cheek  as  pale  as  clay,  "  Janet, "  she  said,  "  I  have 
drank  it." 

"God  be  praised!"  said  Janet,  hastily.  "I  mean,  God  be 
praised  that  it  is  no  worse :  the  potion  will  not  harm  you. 
Else,  shake  this  lethargy  from  your  limbs  and  this  despair 
from  your  mind." 

"  Janet, "  repeated  the  countess  again,  "  disturb  me  not — 
leave  me  at  peace — let  life  pass  quietly — I  am  poisoned. " 

"You  are  not,  my  dearest  lady,"  answered  the  maiden, 
eagerly;  "what  you  have  swallowed  cannot  injure  you,  for 
the  antidote  has  been  taken  before  it,  and  I  hastened  hither 
to  tell  you  that  the  means  of  escape  are  open  to  you." 

"Escape!"  exclaimed  the  lady,  as  she  raised  herself  hastily 
in  her  chair,  while  light  returned  to  her  eye  and  life  to  her 
cheek ;  "  but  ah !  Janet,  it  comes  too  late. " 

"  i^ot  so,  dearest  lady.  Rise,  take  mine  arm,  walk  through 
the  apartment.  Let  not  fancy  do  the  work  of  poison !  So ; 
feel  you  not  now  that  you  are  possessed  of  the  full  use  of  your 
limbs?" 

"  The  torpor  seems  to  diminish, "  said  the  countess,  as,  sup- 
ported by  Janet,  she  walked  to  and  fro  in  the  apartment; 
"  but  is  it  then  so,  and  have  I  not  swallowed  a  deadly  di'aught? 
Varney  was  here  since  thou  wert  gone,  and  commanded  me,  with 
eyes  in  which  I  read  my  fate,  to  swallow  yon  horrible  di-ug. 

0  Janet !  it  must  be  fatal :  never  was  harmless  draught  served 
by  such  a  cupbearer!" 

"He  did  not  deem  it  harmless,  I  fear,"  replied  the  maiden; 
**  but  God  confounds  the  devices  of  the  wicked.  Believe  me, 
as  I  swear  by  the  dear  Gospel  in  which  we  trust,  your  life  is 
safe  from  his  practice.     Did  you  not  debate  with  him?" 

"The  house  was  silent,"  answered  the  lady,  "thou  gone, 
no  other  but  he  in  the  chamber,  and  he  capable  of  every  crime. 

1  did  but  stipulate  he  would  remove  his  hateful  presence,  and 


304  WAYERLEY  NOVELS. 

I  drank  whatever  he  offered.  But  you  spoke  of  escape,  Janet ; 
can  I  be  so  happy?" 

"  Are  you  strong  enough  to  bear  the  tidings  and  make  the 
effort?"  said  the  maiden. 

"Strong!"  answered  the  countess — "ask  the  hind,  when 
the  fangs  of  the  deer-hound  are  stretched  to  grij)e  her,  if  she 
is  strong  enough  to  sprmg  over  a  chasm.  I  am  equal  to  every 
effort  that  may  relieve  me  from  this  place." 

"  Hear  me,  then, "  said  Janet.  "  One,  whom  I  deem  an  as- 
sured friend  of  yours,  has  shown  himself  to  me  in  various 
disguises,  and  sought  speech  of  me,  which — for  my  miud  was 
not  clear  on  the  matter  until  this  evening — I  have  ever  de- 
clined. He  was  the  pedlar  who  brought  you  goods,  the 
itinerant  hawker  who  sold  me  books;  whenever  I  stirred 
abroad  I  was  sure  to  see  him.  The  event  of  this  night  deter- 
mined me  to  speak  with  him.  He  waits  even  now  at  the  pos- 
tern gate  of  the  park  with  means  for  your  flight.  But  have 
you  strength  of  body?  Have  you  courage  of  mind?  Can  you 
undertake  the  enterprise?" 

"  She  that  flies  from  death, "  said  the  lady,  "  finds  strength 
of  body;  she  that  would  escape  from  shame  lacks  no  strength 
of  mind.  The  thoughts  of  leaving  behind  me  the  villain  who 
menaces  both  my  life  and  honour  would  give  me  strength  to 
rise  from  my  death-bed." 

"In  God's  name,  then,  lady,"  said  Janet,  "I  must  bid  you 
adieu,  and  to  God's  charge  I  must  commit  you!" 

"  Will  you  not  fly  with  me,  then,  Janet?"  said  the  coimtess, 
anxiously.     "  Am  I  to  lose  thee ?     Is  this  thy  faithful  service?" 

"  Lady,  I  would  fly  with  you  as  willingly  as  bird  ever  fled 
from  cage,  but  my  doing  so  would  occasion  instant  discovery 
and  pursuit.  I  must  remain,  and  use  means  to  disguise  the 
truth  for  some  time.  May  Heaven  pardon  the  falsehood  be- 
cause of  the  necessity!" 

"And  am  I  then  to  travel  alone  with  this  stranger?"  said 
the  lady.  "Bethink  thee,  Janet,  may  not  this  prove  some 
deeper  and  darker  scheme  to  separate  me  perhaps  from  you, 
who  are  my  only  friend?" 

"  No,  madam,  do  not  suppose  it, "  answered  Janet,  readily ; 


KENILWORTH.  305 

"  the  youth  is  an  honest  youth  in  his  purpose  to  you ;  and  a 
friend  to  Master  Tressilian,  under  whose  direction  he  is  come 
hither." 

''  If  he  be  a  friend  of  Tressilian, "  said  the  countess,  "  I  will 
commit  myself  to  his  charge  as  to  that  of  an  angel  sent  from 
Heaven;  for  than  Tressilian  never  breathed  mortal  man  more 
free  of  whatever  was  base,  false,  or  selfish.  He  forgot  him- 
self whenever  he  could  be  of  use  to  others.  Alas !  and  how 
was  he  requited!" 

With  eager  haste  they  collected  the  few  necessaries  which 
it  was  thought  proper  the  countess  should  take  with  her,  and 
which  Janet,  with  speed  and  dexterity,  formed  into  a  small 
bundle,  not  forgetting  to  add  such  ornaments  of  intrinsic 
value  as  came  most  readily  in  her  way,  and  particularly  a 
casket  of  jewels,  which  she  wisely  judged  might  prove  of  ser- 
vice in  some  future  emergency.  The  Comitess  of  Leicester 
next  changed  her  dress  for  one  which  Janet  usually  wore 
upon  any  brief  journey,  for  they  judged  it  necessary  to  avoid 
every  external  distinction  which  might  attract  notice.  Ere 
these  preparations  were  fully  made,  the  moon  had  arisen  in 
the  summer  heaven,  and  all  in  the  mansion  had  betaken  them- 
selves to  rest,  or  at  least  to  the  silence  and  retirement  of  their 
chambers. 

There  was  no  difficulty  anticipated  in  escaping,  whether 
from  the  house  or  garden,  provided  only  they  could  elude  ob- 
servation. Anthony  Foster  had  accustomed  himself  to  con- 
sider his  daughter  as  a  conscious  sinner  might  regard  a  visible 
guardian  angel,  which,  notwithstanding  his  guilt,  continued 
to  hover  around  him,  and  therefore  his  trust  in  her  knew  no 
bounds.  Janet  commanded  her  ovnx  motions  during  the  day- 
time, and  had  a  master-key  which  opened  the  postern  door  of 
the  park,  so  that  she  could  go  to  the  village  at  pleasure,  either 
upon  the  household  affairs,  which  were  entirely  confided  to  her 
management,  or  to  attend  her  devotions  at  the  meeting-liouse 
of  her  sect.  It  is  true,  the  daughter  of  Foster  was  thus  liber- 
ally entrusted  under  the  solemn  condition  that  she  should  not 
avail  herself  of  these  privileges  to  do  anything  mconsistent 
with  the  safe-keeping  of  the  countess ;  for  so  her  residence  at 
20 


306  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

Cumnor  Place  had  been  termed,  since  she  began  of  late  to  ex- 
hibit impatience  of  the  restrictions  to  which  she  was  sub- 
jected. Nor  is  there  reason  to  suppose  that  anything  short  of 
the  dreadful  suspicions  which  the  scene  of  that  evening  had 
excited  could  have  induced  Janet  to  violate  her  word  or  de- 
ceive her  father's  confidence.  But  from  what  she  had  wit- 
nessed, she  now  conceived  herself  not  only  justified,  but  im- 
peratively called  upon,  to  make  her  lady's  safety  the  principal 
object  of  her  care,  setting  all  other  considerations  aside. 

The  fugitive  countess,  with  her  guide,  traversed  with  hasty 
steps  the  broken  and  interrupted  path,  which  had  once  been 
an  avenue,  now  totally  darkened  by  the  boughs  of  spreading 
trees  which  met  above  their  head,  and  now  receiving  a  doubt- 
ful and  deceiving  light  from  the  beams  of  the  moon,  which 
penetrated  where  the  axe  had  made  openings  in  the  wood. 
Their  path  was  repeatedly  interrupted  by  felled  trees,  or  the 
large  boughs  which  had  been  left  on  the  ground  till  time 
served  to  make  them  into  fagots  and  billets.  The  inconven- 
ience and  difficulty  attending  these  interruptions,  the  breath- 
less haste  of  the  first  part  of  their  route,  the  exhausting  sensa- 
tions of  hope  and  fear,  so  much  affected  the  countess's  strength 
that  Janet  was  forced  to  propose  that  they  should  pause  for  a 
few  minutes  to  recover  breath  and  spirits.  Both,  therefore, 
stood  still  beneath  the  shadow  of  a  huge  old  gnarled  oak-tree, 
and  both  naturally  looked  back  to  the  mansion  which  they  had 
left  behind  them,  whose  long  dark  front  was  seen  in  the  gloomy 
distance,  with  its  huge  stacks  of  chimneys,  turrets,  and  clock- 
house,  rising  above  the  line  of  the  roof,  and  definedly  visible 
against  the  pure  azure  blue  of  the  summer  sky.  One  light 
only  twinkled  from  the  extended  and  shadowy  mass,  and  it 
was  placed  so  low  that  it  rather  seemed  to  glimmer  from  the- 
ground  in  front  of  the  mansion  than  from  one  of  the  windows. 
The  countess's  terror  was  awakened.  "They  follow  us!"  she 
said,  pointing  out  to  Janet  the  light  which  thus  alarmed  her. 

Less  agitated  than  her  mistress,  Janet  perceived  that  the 
gleam  was  stationary,  and  informed  the  countess,  in  a  whisper, 
that  the  light  proceeded  from  the  solitary  cell  in  which  th» 
alchemist  pursued  his  occult  experiments.     "He  is  of  those," 


KENILWORTH.  307 

she  added,  "  who  sit  up  and  watch  by  night  that  they  may 
commit  iniquity.  Evil  was  the  chance  which  sent  hither  a 
man  whose  mixed  speech  of  earthly  wealth  and  unearthly  or 
superhuman  knowledge  hath  in  it  what  does  so  especially  cap- 
tivate my  poor  father.  Well  spoke  the  good  Master  Hold- 
forth,  and,  methought,  not  without  meaning  that  those  of  our 
household  should  find  therein  a  practical  use.  'There  be 
those,'  he  said,  'and  their  number  is  legion,  who  will  rather, 
like  the  wicked  Ahab,  listen  to  the  dreams  of  the  false  prophet 
Zedekiah  than  to  the  words  of  him  by  whom  the  Lord  has 
spoken.'  And  he  further  insisted:  *Ah,  my  brethren,  there 
be  many  Zedekiahs  among  you — men  that  promise  you  the 
light  of  their  carnal  knowledge,  so  you  will  surrender  to  them 
that  of  your  Heavenly  understanding.  What  are  they  bet- 
ter than  the  tyrant  Kaas,  who  demanded  the  right  eye  of 
those  who  were  subjected  to  him?'  And  farther,  he  in- 
sisted  " 

It  is  uncertain  how  long  the  fair  Puritan's  memory  might 
have  supported  her  in  the  recapitulation  of  Master  Hold- 
forth's  discourse;  but  the  countess  interrupted  her,  and  as- 
sured her  she  was  so  much  recovered  that  she  could  now  reach 
the  postern  without  the  necessity  of  a  second  delay. 

They  set  out  accordingly,  and  performed  the  second  part  of 
their  journey  with  more  deliberation,  and  of  course  more  eas- 
ily, than  the  first  hasty  commencement.  This  gave  them  lei- 
sure for  reflection ;  and  Janet  now,  for  the  first  time,  ventured 
to  ask  her  lady  which  way  she  proposed  to  direct  her  flight. 
Receiving  no  immediate  answer — for,  perhaps,  in  the  confu- 
sion of  her  mind,  this  very  obvious  subject  of  deliberation  had 
not  occurred  to  the  countess — Janet  ventured  to  add,  "  Proba- 
bly to  your  father's  house,  where  you  are  sure  of  safety  and 
protection?" 

"  No,  Janet, "  said  the  lady,  mournfully,  "  I  left  Lidcote 
Hall  while  my  heart  was  light  and  my  name  was  honourable, 
and  I  will  not  return  thither  till  my  lord's  permission  and 
public  acknowledgment  of  our  marriage  restore  me  to  my  native 
home  with  all  the  rank  and  honour  which  he  has  bestowed 
on  me.'* 


308  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

"And  whither  will  you,  then,  madam.?"  said  Janet. 

"  To  Kenilworth,  girl, "  said  the  countess,  boldly  and  freely. 
"  I Vill  see  these  revels — these  princely  revels — the  preparatiou 
for  which  makes  the  land  ring  from  side  to  side.  Methinks, 
when  the  Queen  of  England  feasts  within  my  husband's 
halls,  the  Countess  of  Leicester  should  be  no  unbeseeming 
guest." 

"I  pray  God  you  may  be  a  welcome  one!"  said  Janet, 
hastily. 

"  You  abuse  my  situation,  Janet, "  said  the  countess,  an- 
grily, "  and  you  forget  your  own." 

"I  do  neither,  dearest  madam,"  said  the  sorrowful  maiden; 
"  but  have  you  forgotten  that  the  noble  earl  has  given  such 
strict  charges  to  keep  your  marriage  secret  that  he  may  pre- 
serve his  court  favour?  and  can  you  think  that  your  sudden 
appearance  at  his  castle  at  such  a  juncture,  and  in  such  a 
presence,  will  be  acceptable  to  him?" 

"Thou  thinkest  I  would  disgrace  him?"  said  the  countess j 
"  nay,  let  go  my  arm,  I  can  walk  without  aid,  and  work  with- 
out counsel. " 

"  Be  not  angry  with  me,  lady, "  said  Janet,  meekly,  "  and 
let  me  still  support  you ;  the  road  is  rough,  and  you  are  little 
accustomed  to  walk  in  darkness." 

"  If  you  deem  me  not  so  mean  as  may  disgrace  my  hus- 
band," said  the  countess,  in  the  same  resentful  tone,  "you 
suppose  my  Lord  of  Leicester  capable  of  abetting,  perhaps  of 
giving  aim  and  authority  to,  the  base  proceedings  of  your 
father  and  Varney,  whose  errand  I  will  do  to  the  good  earl. " 

"For  God's  sake,  madam,  spare  my  father  in  your  report," 
said  Janet ;  "  let  my  services,  however  poor,  be  some  atone- 
ment for  his  errors  1" 

"I  were  most  unjust,  dearest  Janet,  were  it  otherwise,'* 
said  the  countess,  resuming  at  once  the  fondness  and  confi- 
dence of  her  manner  towards  her  faithful  attendant.  "  No, 
Janet,  not  a  word  of  mine  shall  do  your  father  prejudice. 
But  thou  seest,  my  love,  I  have  no  desire  but  to  throw  myself 
on  my  husband's  protection.  I  have  left  the  abode  he  assigned 
for  me,  because  of  the  villauiy  of  the  persons  by  whom  I  was 


KENILWORTH.  30& 

surrounded;  but  I  will  disobey  liis  commands  in  no  other  par- 
ticular. I  will  appeal  to  liim  alone ;  I  will  be  protected  by 
Mm  alone.  To  no  otber  than  at  his  pleasure  have  I  or  will  I 
communicate  the  secret  union  which  combines  our  hearts  and 
our  destinies,  I  will  see  him,  and  receive  from  his  own  lips 
the  directions  for  my  future  conduct.  Do  not  argue  against 
my  resolution,  Janet;  you  wHl  only  confirm  me  in  it.  And 
to  own  the  truth,  I  am  resolved  to  know  my  fate  at  once,  and 
from  my  husband's  own  mouth,  and  to  seek  hi  in  at  Kenil- 
worth  is  the  surest  way  to  attain  my  purpose." 

While  Janet  hastily  revolved  in  her  mind  the  difficulties 
and  uncertainties  attendant  on  the  imforunate  lady's  situation, 
she  was  inclined  to  alter  her  first  opinion,  and  to  think,  upon 
the  whole,  that,  since  the  countess  had  withdi-awn  herself 
from  the  retreat  in  which  she  had  been  placed  by  her  husband, 
it  was  her  first  duty  to  repair  to  his  presence,  and  possess  him 
with  the  reasons  of  such  conduct.  She  knew  what  importance 
the  earl  attached  to  the  concealment  of  their  marriage,  and 
could  not  but  own  that,  by  taking  any  step  to  make  it  public 
without  his  permission,  the  countess  would  incur*,  in  a  high 
degree,  the  indignation  of  her  husband.  If  she  retired  to  her 
father's  house  without  an  explicit  avowal  of  her  rank,  her  sit- 
uation was  likely  greatly  to  prejudice  her  character;  and  if 
she  made  such  an  avowal,  it  might  occasion  an  ii-reconcilable 
breach  with  her  husband.  At  KeniLwoi-th,  again,  she  might 
plead  her  cause  with  her  husband  himself,  whom  Janet, 
though  distrusting  him  more  than  the  countess  did,  believed 
incapable  of  being  accessary  to  the  base  and  desperate  means 
which  his  dependants,  fi'om  whose  power  the  lady  was  now 
escaping,  might  resort  to,  in  order  to  stifle  her  complaints  of 
the  treatment  she  had  received  at  their  hands.  But  at  the 
worst,  and  were  the  earl  himself  to  deny  her  justice  and  pro- 
tection, still  at  Kenilworth,  if  she  chose  to  make  her  wrongs 
public,  the  countess  might  have  Tressilian  for  her  advocate, 
and  the  Queen  for  her  judge ;  for  so  much  Janet  had  learned 
in  her  short  conference  with  Wayland.  She  was,  therefore, 
on  the  whole,  reconciled  to  her  lady's  proposal  of  going  towards 
Kenilworth,  and  so  expressed  herself;   recommending,  how- 


310  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

ever,  to  tlie  countess  tlie  utmost  caution  in  making  her  arrival 
known  to  her  husband. 

"Hast  thou  thyself  been  cautious,  Janet?"  said  the  coun- 
tess ;  "  this  guide,  in  whom  I  must  put  my  confidence,  bast 
thou  not  entrusted  to  him  the  secret  of  my  condition?" 

"  From  me  he  has  learned  nothing, "  said  Janet ;  "  nor  do  I 
think  that  he  knows  more  than  what  the  public  in  general  be- 
lieve of  your  situation." 

"And  what  is  that?"  said  the  lady. 

"  That  you  left  your  father's  house — but  I  shall  offend  you 
again  if  I  go  on,"  said  Janet,  interrupting  herself. 

"  Nay,  go  on, "  said  the  countess ;  "  I  must  learn  to  endure 
the  evil  report  which  my  folly  has  brought  upon  me.  They 
think,  I  suppose,  that  I  have  left  my  father's  house  to  follow 
lawless  pleasure.  It  is  an  error  which  will  soon  be  removed 
— indeed  it  shall,  for  I  will  live  with  spotless  fame  or  I  shall 
<;ease  to  live.  I  am  accounted,  then,  the  paramour  of  my 
Leicester?" 

"Most  men  say  of  Varney,"  said  Janet;  "yet  some  call 
him  only  the  convenient  cloak  of  his  master's  pleasures;  for 
reports  of  the  profuse  expense  in  garnishing  yonder  apartments 
have  secretly  gone  abroad,  and  such  doings  far  surpass  the 
means  of  Varney.  But  this  latter  opinion  is  little  prevalent; 
for  men  dare  hardly  even  hint  suspicion  when  so  high  a  name, 
is  concerned,  lest  the  Star  Chamber  should  punish  them  for 
scandal  of  the  nobility." 

"They  do  well  to  speak  low,"  said  the  countess,  "who 
would  mention  the  illustrious  Dudley  as  the  accomplice  of 
Buch  a  wretch  as  Varney.  We  have  reached  the  postern. 
Ah!  Janet,  I  must  bid  thee  farewell!  Weep  not,  my  good 
girl,"  said  she,  endeavouring  to  cover  her  own  reluctance  to 
part  with  her  faithful  attendant  under  an  attempt  at  playful- 
ness, "and  against  we  meet  again,  reform  me,  Janet,  that 
precise  ruff  of  thine  for  an  open  rabatine  of  lace  and  cut- 
work,  that  will  let  men  see  thou  hast  a  fair  neck ;  and  that 
kirtle  of  Philippine  cheney,  with  that  bugle  lace  which  befits 
only  a  chambermaid,  into  three-piled  velvet  and  cloth  of  gold: 
thou  wilt  find  plenty  of  stuffs  in  my  chamber,  and  I  freely  be- 


KENILWORTH.  311 

stow  them  on  you.  Thou  must  be  brave,  Janet ;  for  though 
thou  art  now  but  the  attendant  of  a  distressed  and  errant  lady, 
who  is  both  nameless  and  fameless,  yet,  when  we  meet  again, 
thou  must  be  di-essed  as  becomes  the  gentlewoman  nearest  in 
love  and  in  service  to  ^he  first  countess  h\  England!" 

"Now,  may  God  grant  it,  dear  lady!"  said  Janet — "not 
that  I  may  go  with  gayer  apparel,  but  that  we  may  both  wear 
our  kirtles  over  lighter  hearts." 

By  this  time  the  lock  of  the  postern  door  had,  after  some 
hard  wrenchmg,  yielded  to  the  master-key ;  and  the  countess, 
not  without  internal  shuddering,  saw  herself  beyond  the  walls 
which  her  husband's  strict  commands  had  assigned  to  her  as  the 
boundary  of  her  walks.  Waiting  with  much  anxiety  for  their 
appearance,  Wayland  Smith  stood  at  some  distance,  shrouding 
himself  behind  a  hedge  which  bordered  the  highroad. 

"Is  all  safe?"  said  Janet  to  him,  anxiously,  as  he  ap- 
proached them  with  caution. 

"  All, "  he  replied ;  "  but  I  have  been  unable  to  procure  a 
horse  for  the  lady.  Giles  Gosling,  the  cowardly  hilding,  re- 
fused me  one  on  any  terms  whatever ;  lest,  forsooth,  he  should 
suffer — but  no  matter.  She  must  ride  on  my  palfrey,  and  I 
must  walk  by  her  side  until  I  come  by  another  horse.  There 
will  be  no  pursuit,  if  you,  pretty  Mistress  Janet,  forget  not 
thy  lesson." 

"  No  more  than  the  wise  widow  of  Tekoa  forgot  the  words 
which  Joab  put  into  her  mouth, "  answered  Janet.  "  To-mor- 
row, I  say  that  my  lady  is  unable  to  rise." 

"  Ay,  and  that  she  hath  achmg  and  heaviness  of  the  head, 
a  throbbing  at  the  heart,  and  lists  not  to  be  disturbed.  Fear 
not ;  they  will  take  the  hmt,  and  trouble  thee  with  few  ques- 
tions: they  understand  the  disease." 

"  But, "  said  the  lady,  "  my  absence  must  be  soon  discovered, 
and  they  will  murder  her  in  revenge.  I  will  rather  return 
than  expose  her  to  such  danger." 

"  Be  at  ease  on  my  account,  madam, "  said  Janet ;  "  I  would 
you  were  as  sure  of  receiving  the  favour  you  desire  from  those 
to  whom  you  must  make  appeal,  as  I  am  that  my  father,  how- 
ever angry,  will  suffer  no  harm  to  befall  me." 


312  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

The  countess  was  now  placed  by  Wayland  upon  his  horse^ 
around  the  saddle  of  which  he  had  placed  his  cloak,  so  folded 
as  to  make  her  a  commodious  seat. 

"Adieu,  and  may  the  blessing  of  God  wend  with  you!"  said 
Janet,  agam  kissing  her  mistress's  hand,  who  returned  her 
benediction  with  a  mute  caress.  They  then  tore  themselves 
asunder,  and  Janet,  addressing  Wayland,  exclaimed,  "May 
Heaven  deal  with  you  at  your  need,  as  you  are  true  or  false  to 
this  most  injured  and  most  helpless  lady!" 

"Amen!  dearest  Janet,"  replied  Wayland;  "and  believe 
me,  I  will  so  acquit  myself  of  my  trust,  as  may  tempt  even 
your  pretty  eyes,  sahit-like  as  they  are,  to  look  less  scornfully 
on  me  when  we  next  meet." 

The  latter  part  of  this  adieu  was  whispered  iato  Janet's 
ear;  and,  although  she  made  no  reply  to  it  directly,  yet  her 
manner,  influenced  no  doubt  by  her  desire  to  leave  every  mo- 
tive in  force  which  could  operate  towards .  her  mistress's 
safety,  did  not  discourage  the  hope  which  Wayland' s  words 
expressed.  She  re-entered  the  postern  door,  and  locked  it 
behind  her,  while,  Wayland  taking  the  horse's  bridle  in  his 
hand  and  walking  close  by  its  head,  they  began  in  silence 
their  dubious  and  moonlight  journey. 

Although  Wayland  Smith  used  the  utm^ost  despatch  which 
he  could  make,  yet  this  mode  of  travelling  was  so  slow  that, 
when  morning  began  to  dawn  through  the  eastern  mist,  he 
found  himself  no  farther  than  about  ten  mUes  distant  from 
Cumnor.  "  Now,  a  plague  upon  all  smooth-spoken  hosts !"  said 
Wayland,  unable  longer  to  suppress  his  mortification  and  un- 
easiness. "  Had  the  false  loon,  Giles  Gosling,  but  told  me  plain- 
ly two  days  since  that  I  was  to  reckon  nought  upon  him,  I  had 
shifted  better  for  myself.  But  your  hosts  have  such  a  custom 
of  promising  whatever  is  called  for,  that  it  is  not  till  the  steed 
is  to  be  shod  you  find  they  are  out  of  iron.  Had  I  but  known, 
I  could  have  made  twenty  shifts ;  nay,  for  that  matter,  and 
in  so  good  a  cause,  I  would  have  thought  little  to  have  prigged 
a  prancer  from  the  next  common — it  had  but  been  sending 
back  the  brute  to  the  head-borough.  The  farcy  and  the  foun- 
ders confound  every  horse  in  the  stables  of  the  Black  Bear !" 


KENILWORTH.  BIS 

The  lady  endeavoured  to  comfort  her  guide,  observing,  that 
the  dawn  would  enable  him  to  make  more  speed. 

" True,  madam,"  he  replied;  " but  then  it  will  enable  other 
folk  to  take  note  of  us,  and  that  may  prove  an  ill  beginning 
of  our  journey.  I  had  not  cared  a  spark  from  an\nl  about  the 
matter  had  we  been  farther  advanced  on  our  way.  But  this 
Berkshire  has  been  notoriously  haunted  ever  since  I  knew  the 
country  with  that  sort  of  malicious  elves  who  sit  up  late  and 
rise  eai-ly  for  no  other  purpose  than  to  pry  into  other  folks' 
affairs.  I  have  been  endangered  by  them  ere  now.  But  do 
not  fear,"  he  added,  "good  madam;  for  wit,  meeting  with 
opportimity,  will  not  miss  to  find  a  salve  for  every  sore." 

The  alarms  of  her  guide  made  more  impression  on  the  coun- 
tess's mind  than  the  comfort  which  he  judged  fit  to  administer 
along  with  it.  She  looked  anxiously  around  her,  and  as  the 
shadows  withdrew  from  the  landscape,  and  the  heightening 
glow  of  the  eastern  sky  promised  the  speedy  rise  of  the  sun, 
expected  at  every  turn  that  the  increasing  light  would  expose 
them  to  the  view  of  the  vengeful  pursuers,  or  present  some 
dangerous  and  insurmountable  obstacle  to  the  prosecution  of 
their  journey.  Wayland  Smith  perceived  her  imeasiness,  and, 
displeased  with  himself  for  having  given  her  cause  of  alarm, 
strode  on  with  affected  alacrity,  now  talking  to  the  horse  as 
one  expert  in  the  language  of  the  stable,  now  whistling  to 
himself  low  and  interrupted  snatches  of  times,  and  now  assur- 
ing the  lady  there  was  no  danger ;  while  at  the  same  time  he 
looked  sharply  around  to  see  that  there  was  nothing  in  sight 
which  might  give  the  lie  to  his  words  while  they  were  issuing 
from  his  mouth.  Thus  did  they  journey  on,  until  an  unex- 
pected incident  gave  them  the  means  of  continuing  their  pil- 
grimage with  more  speed  and  convenience. 


314  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

Richard.  A  horse ! — a  horse ! — my  kingdom  for  a  horse ! 

Catesby. My  lord,  I'll  help  you  to  a  horse. 

Ridtard  III. 

Our  travellers  were  in  tlie  act  of  passing  a  small  thicket  of 
trees  close  by  the  roadside,  when  the  first  living  being  pre- 
sented himself  whom  they  had  seen  since  their  departure  from 
Cmnnor  Place.  This  was  a  stupid  lout,  seemingly  a  farmer's 
boy,  in  a  grey  jerkin,  with  his  head  bare,  his  hose  about  his 
heels,  and  huge  startups  upon  his  feet.  He  held  by  the  bri- 
dle what  of  all  things  they  most  wanted — a  palfrey,  namely, 
with  a  side-saddle  and  all  other  garniture  for  a  woman's  mount- 
ing; and  he  hailed  "Wayland  Smith  with,  "Zur,  ye  be  zure 
the  party?" 

"  Ay,  that  I  be,  my  lad,"  answered  W^ayland,  without  au 
instant's  hesitation;  and  it  must  be  owned  that  consciences 
trained  in  a  stricter  school  of  morality  might  have  given  way 
to  an  occasion  so  tempting.  While  he  spoke,  he  caught  the 
rein  out  of  the  boy's  hand,  and  almost  at  the  same  time  helped 
down  the  countess  from  his  own  horse,  and  aided  her  to  moimt 
on  that  which  chance  had  thus  presented  for  her  acceptance. 
Indeed,  so  naturally  did  the  whole  take  place,  that  the  coun- 
tess, as  it  afterwards  appeared,  never  suspected  but  that  the 
horse  had  been  placed  there  to  meet  them  by  the  precaution  of 
the  guide  or  some  of  his  friends. 

The  lad,  however,  who  was  thus  hastily  dispossessed  of  his 
charge,  began  to  stare  hard,  and  scratch  his  head,  as  if  seized 
with  some  qualms  of  conscience  for  delivering  up  the  animal 
on  such  brief  explanation.  "  I  be  right  zure  thou  be'st  the 
party,"  said  he,  muttering  to  himself,  "but  thou  shouldst  ha 
zaid  'Beans,'  thou  knaw'st." 

"Ay — ay,"  said  Wayland,  speaking  at  a  venture;  "and 
thou  'Bacon,'  thou  know'st." 

"  Noa — noa, "  said  the  lad ;  "  bide  ye — bide  ye ;  it  was '  Pease' 
a  should  ha  said." 


KENILWORTH.  316 

"Well — well,"  answered  Wayland,  "'Pease'  belt,  a  God's 
name!  thougli  'Bacon'  were  the  better  password." 

And  being  by  this  time  mounted  on  his  own  horse,  he  caught 
the  rein  of  the  palfrey  from  the  uncertain  hold  of  the  hesitat- 
ing young  boor,  flung  him  a  small  piece  of  money,  and  made 
amends  for  lost  time  by  riding  briskly  off  without  fai-ther  par- 
ley. The  lad  was  stiU  visible  from  the  hill  up  which  they 
were  riding,  and  Wayland,  as  he  looked  back,  beheld  him 
standing  with  his  fingers  in  his  hair  as  immovable  as  a  guide- 
post,  and  his  head  turned  in  the  direction  in  which  they  were 
escaping  from  him.  At  length,  just  as  they  topped  the  hill, 
he  saw  the  clown  stoop  to  lift  up  the  silver  groat  which  his 
benevolence  had  imparted.  "  ISTow  this  is  what  I  call  a  God- 
send, "  said  Wayland :  "  this  is  a  bonny  well-ridden  bit  of  a 
going  thing,  and  it  will  carry  us  so  far  till  we  get  you  as  well 
mounted,  and  then  we  will  send  it  back  time  enough  to  satisfy 
the  hue  and  cry." 

But  he  was  deceived  in  his  expectations ;  and  fate,  which 
seemed  at  first  to  promise  so  fairly,  soon  threatened  to  turn 
the  incident  which  he  thus  gloried  in  into  the  cause  of  their 
utter  ruin. 

They  had  not  ridden  a  short  mile  from  the  place  where  they 
left  the  lad  before  they  heard  a  man's  voice  shouting  on  the 
wiud  behind  them,  "Robbery! — robbery!  Stop  thief!"  and 
similar  exclamations,  which  Wayland's  conscience  readily  as- 
sured him  must  arise  out  of  the  transaction  to  which  he  had 
been  just  accessary. 

"  I  had  better  have  gone  barefoot  all  my  life, "  he  said :  "  it 
is  the  hue  and  cry,  and  I  am  a  lost  man.  Ah!  Wayland — 
Wayland,  many  a  time  thy  father  said  horse-flesh  would  be 
the  death  of  thee.  Were  I  once  safe  among  the  horse-coursers 
in  Smithfield  or  Turnball  Street,  they  should  have  leave  to 
hang  me  as  high  as  St.  Paul's  if  I  e'er  meddled  more  with 
nobles,  knights,  or  gentlewomen!" 

Amidst  these  dismal  reflections,  he  turned  his  head  repeat- 
edly to  see  by  whom  he  was  chased,  and  was  much  comforted 
when  he  could  only  discover  a  single  rider,  who  was,  however, 
well  mounted,   and  came  after  them  at  a  speed  which  left 


316  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

them  no  chance  of  escaping,  even  had  the  lady's  strength 
permitted  her  to  ride  as  fast  as  her  palfrey  might  have  been 
able  to  gallop. 

''  There  may  be  fair  j)lay  betwixt  us,  sure, "  thought  Way- 
land^  "  where  there  is  but  one  man  on  each  side ;  and  yonder 
fellow  sits  on  his  horse  more  like  a  monkey  than  a  cavalier. 
Pshaw !  if  it  come  to  the  worst,  it  will  be  easy  unhorsing  him. 
jSTay,  'snails!  I  think  his  horse  will  take  the  matter  in  his  own 
hand,  for  he  has  the  bridle  betwixt  his  teeth.  Oons,  what 
care  I  for  him?"  said  he,  as  the  pursuer  drew  yet  nearer;  "  it 
is  but  the  little  animal  of  a  mercer  from  Abingdon,  when  all  is 
over. " 

Even  so  it  was,  as  the  experienced  eye  of  Wayland  had 
descried  at  a  distance.  For  the  valiant  mercer's  horse,  which 
■was  a  beast  of  mettle,  feeling  himself  put  to  his  speed,  and 
discerning  a  couple  of  horses  riding  fast,  at  some  hundred 
yards'  distance  before  him,  betook  himself  to  the  road  with 
such  alacrity  as  totally  deranged  the  seat  of  his  rider,  who  not 
only  came  up  with,  but  passed  at  full  gallop,  those  whom  he 
had  been  pursuing,  pulling  the  reins  with  all  his  might,  and 
ejaculating,  "Stop! — stop!"  an  interjection  which  seemed 
rather  to  regard  his  own  palfrey  than  what  seamen  call  "  the 
chase."  With  the  same  involuntary  speed,  he  shot  ahead,  to 
use  another  nautical  phrase,  about  a  furlong  ere  he  was  able 
to  stop  and  turn  his  horse,  and  then  rode  back  towards  our 
travellers,  adjusting,  as  well  as  he  could,  his  disordered  dress, 
resettling  himself  in  the  saddle,  and  endeavouring  to  substi- 
tute a  bold  and  martial  frown  for  the  confusion  and  dismay 
which  sate  upon  his  visage  during  his  involuntary  career. 

Wayland  had  just  time  to  caution  the  lady  not  to  be  alarmed, 
adding,  "  This  fellow  is  a  gull,  and  I  will  use  him  as  such." 

When  the  mercer  had  recovered  breath  and  audacity  enough 
to  confront  them,  he  ordered  Wayland,  in  a  menacing  tone, 
to  deliver  up  his  palfrey. 

"  How?"  said  the  smith,  in  King  Cambyses's  vein,  "  are  we 
commanded  to  stand  and  deliver  on  the  king's  highway?  Then 
out,  Excalibar,  and  tell  this  knight  of  prowess  that  dire  blows 
must  decide  between  us!" 


KENILWORTH.  317 

"Haro  and  help,  and  hue  and  cry,  every  true  man  I"  said 
the  mercer,  "I  am  withstood  in  seeking  to  recover  mine  own!" 

"  Thou  swear'st  thy  gods  in  vain,  foul  paynim, "  said  Way- 
land,  "  for  I  will  through  with  mine  purpose,  were  death  at 
the  end  on't.  Nevertheless,  know,  thou  false  man  of  frail 
cambric  and  ferrateen,  that  I  am  he,  even  the  pedlar,  whom 
thou  didst  boast  to  meet  on  Maiden  Castle  Moor  and  despoil 
of  his  pack ;  wherefore  betake  thee  to  thy  weapons  presently. " 

"  I  spoke  but  in  jest,  man,"  said  Goldthred;  "  I  am  an  hon- 
est shopkeeper  and  citizen,  who  scorns  to  leap  forth  on  any 
man  from  behind  a  hedge. " 

"Then,  by  my  faith,  most  puissant  mercer,"  answered 
Wayland,  "  I  am  sorry  for  my  vow,  which  was  that,  wherever 
I  met  thee,  I  would  despoil  thee  of  thy  palfrey  and  bestow  it 
upon  my  leman,  unless  thou  couldst  defend  it  by  blows  of 
force.  But  the  vow  is  passed  and  registered ;  and  aU  I  can 
do  for  thee  is  to  leave  the  horse  at  Donnington,  in  the  nearest 
hostelry." 

"  But  I  tell  thee,  friend, "  said  the  mercer,  "  it  is  the  very 
horse  on  which  I  was  this  day  to  carry  Jane  Thackham  of 
Shottesbrook  as  far  as  the  parish  church  yonder,  to  become 
Dame  Goldthred.  She  hath  jumped  out  of  the  shot-window 
of  old  Gaffer  Thackham's  grange;  and  lo  ye,  yonder  she 
stands  at  the  place  where  she  should  have  met  the  palfrey, 
with  her  camlet  riding-cloak  and  ivory-handled  whip,  like  a 
picture  of  Lot's  wife.  I  pray  you,  in  good  terms,  let  me  have 
back  the  palfrey." 

"  Grieved  am  I, "  said  Wayland,  "  as  much  for  the  fair  dam- 
sel as  for  thee,  most  noble  imp  of  musliu.  But  vows  must 
have  their  course;  thou  wilt  find  the  palfrey  at  the  Angel 
yonder  at  Donnington.  It  is  all  I  may  do  for  thee  with  a  safe 
conscience." 

"To  the  devil  with  thy  conscience!"  said  the  dismayed 
mercer.  "Wouldst  thou  have  a  bride  walk  to  church  on 
foot?" 

"Thou  mayst  take  her  on  thy  crupper,  Sir  Goldthred," 
answered  Wayland;  "  it  will  take  down  thy  steed's  mettle." 

"  And  how  if  you — if  you  forget  to  leave  my  horse,  as  you 


318  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

propose?"  said  Goldtlired,  not  without  hesitation,  for  his  soul 
was  afraid  within  him. 

"  My  pack  shall  be  pledged  for  it ;  yonder  it  lies  with  Giles 
Gosling,  in  his  chamber  with  the  damask' d  leathern  hangings, 
stuffed  full  with  velvet — single,  double,  triple-piled — rash, 
taffeta  and  paropa,  shag,  damask,  and  mockado,  plush  and 
grogram " 

"Hold! — ^hold!"  exclaimed  the  mercer ;  "nay,  if  there  be,. 
in  truth  and  sincerity,  but  the  half  of  these  wares — but  if  ever 
I  trust  bumpkin  with  bonny  Bayard  again!" 

"  As  you  list  for  that,  good  Master  Goldthred,  and  so  good 
morrow  to  you — and  well  parted, "  he  added,  riding  on  cheer- 
fully with  the  lady,  while  the  discountenanced  mercer  rode 
back  much  slower  than  he  came,  pondering  what  excuse  he 
should  make  to  the  disappointed  bride,  who  stood  waiting  for 
her  gallant  groom  in  the  midst  of  the  kmg's  highway. 

"  Methought, "  said  the  lady  as  they  rode  on, '  "  yonder  fool 
stared  at  me  as  if  he  had  some  remembrance  of  me ;  yet  I 
kept  my  mufl&er  as  high  as  I  might." 

"  If  I  thought  so, "  said  Way  land,  "  I  would  ride  back  and 
cut  him  over  the  pate :  there  would  be  no  fear  of  harming  his 
brains,  for  he  never  had  so  much  as  would  make  pap  to  a 
sucking  gosling.  We  must  now  push  on,  however,  and  at 
Donnington  we  will  leave  the  oaf's  horse,  that  he  may  have  no 
farther  temptation  to  pursue  us,  and  endeavour  to  assume  such 
a  change  of  shape  as  may  baffle  his  pursuit,  if  he  should  per- 
severe in  it." 

The  travellers  reached  Donnington  without  farther  alarm, 
where  it  became  matter  of  necessity  that  the  countess  should 
enjoy  two  or  three  hours'  repose,  during  which  Wayland  dis- 
posed himself,  with  equal  address  and  alacrity,  to  carry 
through  those  measures  on  which  the  safety  of  their  future 
journey  seemed  to  depend. 

Exchanging  his  pedlar's  gaberdine  for  a  smock-frock,  he 
carried  the  palfrey  of  Goldthred  to  the  Aiigel  Inn,  which  was 
at  the  other  end  of  the  village  from  that  where  our  travellers 
had  taken  up  their  quarters.  In  the  progress  of  the  morning,, 
as  he  travelled  about  his  other  business,  he  saw  the  steed 


KENILWORTH.  319 

brought  forth  and  delivered  to  the  cutting  mercer  himself, 
who,  at  the  head  of  a  valorous  posse  of  the  hue  and  cry,  came 
to  rescue,  by  force  of  arms,  what  was  delivered  to  him  without 
any  other  ransom  than  the  price  of  a  huge  quantity  of  ale, 
drunk  out  by  his  assistants,  thirsty,  it  would  seem,  with  their 
walk,  and  concerning  th6  price  of  which  Master  Goldthred 
had  a  fierce  dispute  with  the  head-borough,  whom  he  had 
summoned  to  aid  him  in  raising  the  country. 

Having  made  this  act  of  prudent,  as  well  as  just,  restitu- 
tion, Wayland  procured  such  change  of  apparel  for  the  lady, 
as  well  as  himself,  as  gave  them  both  the  appearance  of  coun- 
try people  of  the  better  class ;  it  being  farther  resolved  that, 
in  order  to  attract  the  less  observation,  she  should  pass  upon 
the  road  for  the  sister  of  her  guide.  A  good,  but  not  a  gay 
horse,  fit  to  keep  pace  with  his  own,  and  gentle  enough  for  a 
lady's  use,  completed  the  preparations  for  the  journey;  for 
making  which,  and  for  other  expenses,  he  had  been  furnished 
with  sufficient  funds  by  Tressilian.  And  thus,  about  noon, 
after  the  countess  had  been  refreshed  by  the  soimd  repose  of 
several  hours,  they  resumed  their  journey,  with  the  purpose 
of  making  the  best  of  their  way  to  Kenilworth,  by  Coventry 
and  Warwick.  They  were  not,  however,  destined  to  travel 
far  without  meeting  some  cause  of  apprehension. 

It  is  necessary  to  premise,  that  the  landlord  of  the  inn  had 
informed  them  that  a  jovial  party,  intended,  as  he  understood, 
to  present  some  of  the  masques  or  mummeries  which  made  a 
part  of  the  entertainment  with  which  the  Queen  was  usually 
welcomed  on  the  royal  progresses,  had  left  the  village  of  Don- 
nington  an  hour  or  two  before  them,  in  order  to  proceed  to 
Kenilworth.  Now  it  had  occurred  to  Wayland  that,  by  at- 
taching themselves  m  some  sort  to  this  group,  as  soon  as  they 
should  overtake  them  on  the  road,  they  would  be  less  likely  to 
attract  notice  than  if  they  continued  to  travel  entirely  by 
themselves.  He  commimicated  his  idea  to  the  countess,  who, 
only  anxious  to  arrive  at  Kenilworth  without  interruption,  left 
him  free  to  choose  the  manner  in  which  this  was  to  be  accom- 
plished. They  pressed  forward  their  horses,  therefore,  with 
the  purpose  of  overtaking  the  party  of  intended  revellers,  and 


320  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

making  the  journey  in  tlieir  company ;  and  had  just  seen  the 
little  party,  consisting  partly  of  riders,  partly  of  people  on 
foot,  crossing  the  summit  of  a  gentle  hill,  at  about  half  a 
mile's  distance,  and  disappearing  on  the  other  side,  when 
Wayland,  who  maintained  the  most  circumspect  observation 
of  all  that  met  his  eye  in  every  direction,  was  aware  that  a 
rider  was  coming  up  behind  them  on  a  horse  of  uncommon  ac- 
tion, accompanied  by  a  serving-man,  whose  utmost  efforts  were 
unable  to  keep  up  with  his  master's  trotting  hackney,  and 
who,  therefore,  was  fain  to  follow  him  at  a  hand-gallop.  Way- 
land  looked  anxiously  back  at  these  horsemen,  became  consid- 
erably disturbed  in  his  manner,  looked  back  again,  and 
became  pale,  as  he  said  to  the  lady :  "  That  is  Eichard  Yar- 
ney's  trotting  gelding :  I  would  know  him  among  a  thousand 
nags;  this  is  a  worse  business  tha,n  meeting  the  mercer." 

"  Draw  your  sword, "  answered  the  lady,  "  and  pierce  my 
bosom  with  it,  rather  than  I  should  fall  into  his  hands !" 

"  I  would  rather  by  a  thousand  times, "  answered  Wayland, 
*'pass  it  through  his  body,  or  even  mine  own.  But  to  say 
truth,  fighting  is  not  my  best  point,  though  I  can  look  on  cold 
ii'on  like  another  when  needs  must  be.  And,  indeed,  as  for 
my  sword — put  on,  I  pray  you — it  is  a  poor  provant  rapier, 
and  I  warrant  you  he  has  a  special  Toledo.  He  has  a  serving- 
man,  too,  and  I  think  it  is  the  drunken  ruffian  Lambourne, 
upon  the  horse  on  which  men  say — I  pray  you  heartily  to  put 
on — he  did  the  great  robbery  of  the  west  country  grazier.  It 
is  not  that  I  fear  either  Yarney  or  Lambourne  in  a  good  cause 
— your  palfrey  will  go  yet  faster  if  j^ou  urge  him — but  yet — 
nay,  I  pray  you  let  him  not  break  oif  into  the  gallop,  lest  they 
should  see  we  fear  them,  and  give  chase ;  keep  him  only  at 
the  full  trot — but  yet,  though  I  fear  them  not,  I  would  we 
were  well  rid  of  them,  and  that  rather  by  policy  than  by  vio- 
lence. Could  we  once  reach  the  party  before  us,  we  may  herd 
among  them,  and  pass  unobserved,  unless  Yarney  be  really 
come  in  express  pursuit  of  us,  and  then,  happy  man  be  his 
dole!" 

While  he  thus  spoke,  he  alternately  urged  and  restrained 
Ms  horse,  desirous  to  maintain  the  fleetest  pace  that  was  con- 


KEXILWORTH.  321 

sistenfc  ■with  tlie  idea  of  an  ordinary  journey  on  the  road,  but 
to  avoid  such  rapidity  of  movement  as  might  give  rise  to  sus- 
picion that  they  were  flying. 

At  such  a  pace,  they  ascended  the  gentle  hill  we  have  men- 
tioned, and,  looking  from  the  top,  had  the  pleasui-e  to  see  that 
the  party  which  had  left  Donnington  before  them  were  in  the 
little  valley  or  bottom  on  the  other  side,  where  the  road  was 
traversed  by  a  rividet,  beside  which  was  a  cottage  or  two. 
In  this  place  they  seemed  to  have  made  a  pause,  which  gave 
"Wayland  the  hope  of  joiuuig  them,  and  becoming  a  part  of 
their  company,  ere  Yarney  should  overtake  them.  He  was 
the  more  anxious,  as  his  companion,  though  she  made  no  com- 
plaints and  expressed  no  fear,  began  to  look  so  deadly  pale 
that  he  was  afraid  she  might  drop  from  her  horse.  ITotwith- 
standing  this  symptom  of  decaying  strength,  she  pushed  on 
her  paKrey  so  briskly  that  they  joined  the  party  in  the  bottom 
of  the  valley  ere  Varney  appeared  on  the  top  of  the  gentle 
eminence  which  they  had  descended. 

They  found  the  company  to  which  they  meant  to  associate 
themselves  in  great  disorder.  The  women,  with  dishevelled 
locks  and  looks  of  great  importance,  ran  in  and  out  of  one  of 
the  cottages,  and  the  men  stood  around  holding  the  horses, 
and  lookuig  silly  enough^  as  is  usual  in  cases  where  their 
assistance  is  not  wanted. 

Wayland  and  his  charge  paused,  as  if  out  of  curiosity,  and 
then  gradually,  without  makmg  any  inquiries,  or  being  asked 
any"  questions,  they  muigled  with  the  group,  as  if  they  had 
alwaj^s  made  part  of  it. 

They  had  not  stood  there  above  five  minutes,  anxiously 
keeping  as  much  to  the  side  of  the  road  as  possible,  so  as  to 
place  the  other  travellers  betwixt  them  and  Varney,  when 
Lord  Leicester's  master  of  the  horse,  followed  by  Lambourne, 
came  riding  fiercely  down  the  lull,  their  horses'  flanks  and  the 
rowels  of  their  spurs  showing  bloody  tokens  of  the  rate  at 
which  they  travelled.  The  api^earance  of  the  stationaiy  group 
ai-ound  the  cottages,  wearing  their  buckram  suits  in  order  to 
protect  their  masquing  dresses,  having  their  light  cart  for 
transporting  their  scenery,  and  carrying  various  fantactio 
21 


I 
322  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

properties  in  their  hands  for  the  more  easy  conveyance,  let  the 
riders  at  once  into  the  character  and  purpose  of  the  com- 
pany. 

"You  are  revellers,"  said  Varney,  "designing  for  KenU- 
-worth?" 

^^  Recte  quidem,  Domine  sjoectatissime,"  answered  one  of  the 
party. 

"And  why  the  devil  stand  you  here,"  said  Varney,  "when 
your  utmost  despatch  will  but  bring  you  to  Kenilworth  in 
time?  The  Queen  dines  at  Warwick  to-morrow,  and  you  loi- 
ter here,  ye  knaves!" 

"  In  very  truth,  sir, "  said  a  little  diminutive  urchin,  wear- 
ing a  vizard  with  a  couple  of  sproutiug  horns  of  an  elegant 
scarlet  hue,  having  moreover  a  black  serge  jerkin  drawn  close 
to  his  body  by  lacing,  garnished  with  red  stockings,  and  shoes 
so  shaped  as  to  resemble  cloven  feet — "ta  very  truth,  sir, 
and  you  are  in  the  right  on't.  It  is  my  father  the  devil,  who, 
being  taken  in  labour,  has  delayed  our  present  purpose,  by 
increasing  our  company  with  an  imp  too  many." 

"  The  devH  he  has !"  answered  Varney,  whose  laugh,  how- 
ever, never  exceeded  a  sarcastic  smile. 

"It  is  even  as  the  juvenal  hath  said,"  added  the  masquer 
"who  spoke  first:  "our  major  devil — for  this  is  but  our  minor 
one — is  even  now  at  Lucinafer  opem,  within  that  very  tugu- 

"  By  St.  George,  or  rather  by  the  Dragon,  who  may  be  a 
tiusman  of  the  fiend  in  the  straw,  a  most  comical  chancel" 
said  Varney.  "  How  sayst  thou,  Lambourne,  wilt  thou  stand 
godfather  for  the  nonce?  If  the  devil  were  to  choose  a  gossip, 
I  know  no  one  more  fit  for  the  ofiice." 

"Saving  always  when  my  betters  are  in  presence,"  said 
Lambourne,  with  the  civil  impudence  of  a  servant  who  knows 
Ms  services  to  be  so  indispensable  that  his  jest  will  be  per- 
mitted to  pass  muster. 

"  And  what  is  the  name  of  this  devil  or  devil's  dam  who  has 
timed  her  turns  so  strangely?"  said  Varney.  "We  can  ill 
afford  to  spare  any  of  our  actors. " 

"  Gatid^  nomine  Sibyllce,"  said  the  first  speaker:  "she  is 


KENILWORTH.  323 

called  Sibyl  Laneham,  wife  of  Master  Kichard  [Robert] 
Lanehain " 

"Clerk  to  tbe  council-cliamber  door,"  said  Varney;  "why, 
she  is  inexcusable,  having  had  experience  how  to  have  ordered 
her  matters  better.  But  who  were  those,  a  man  and  a  woman, 
I  think,  who  rode  so  hastily  up  the  hill  before  me  even  now? 
Do  they  belong  to  your  company?" 

Wayland  was  about  to  hazard  a  reply  to  this  alarming  in- 
quiry, when  the  little  diablotin  again  thrust  in  his  oar, 

"So  please  you,'*  he  said,  coming  close  up  to  Varney,  and 
speaking  so  as  not  to  be  overheard  by  his  companions,  "  the 
man  was  our  devil  major,  who  has  tricks  enough  to  supply  the 
lack  of  a  hundred  such  as  Dame  Laneham ;  and  the  woman, 
if  you  please,  is  the  sage  person  whose  assistance  is  most  par- 
ticularly necessary  to  our  distressed  comrade." 

"Oh,  what,  you  have  got  the  wise  woman,  then?"  said 
Varney.  "Why,  truly,  she  rode  like  one  bound  to  a  place 
where  she  was  needed.  And  you  have  a  spare  limb  of  Satan, 
besides,  to  supply  the  place  of  Mrs.  Laneham?" 

"Ay,  sir,"  said  the  boy,  "they  are  not  so  scarce  in  this 
world  as  your  honour's  virtuous  eminence  would  suppose. 
This  master  fiend  shall  spit  a  few  flashes  of  fire  and  eruct  a 
volume  or  two  of  smoke  on  the  spot,  if  it  will  do  you  pleasure : 
you  would  think  he  had  iEtna  in  his  abdomen." 

"  I  lack  time  just  now,  most  hopeful  imp  of  darkness,  to 
witness  his  performance, "  said  Varney ;  "  but  here  is  some- 
thing for  you  all  to  drink  the  lucky  hour ;  and  so,  as  the  play 
says,  'God  be  with  your  labour!'  " 

Thus  speaking,  he  struck  his  horse  with  the  spurs,  and  rode 
on  his  way. 

Lambourne  tarried  a  moment  or  two  behind  his  master,  and 
rummaged  his  pouch  for  a  piece  of  silver,  which  he  bestowed 
on  the  communicative  imp,  as  he  said,  for  his  encouragement 
on  his  path  to  the  infernal  regions,  some  sparks  of  whose  fire, 
he  said,  he  could  discover  flashing  from  him  already.  Then, 
having  received  the  boy's  thanks  for  his  generosity,  he  also 
spurred  his  horse,  and  rode  after  his  master  as  fast  as  the  fire 
flashes  from  flint. 


324  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

"  Aud  now, "  said  the  wily  imp,  sidling  close  up  to  Way- 
land's  horse,  and  cutting  a  gambol  in  the  air,  which  seemed 
to  vindicate  his  title  to  relationship  with  the  prince  of  that 
element,  "  I  have  told  them  who  ymi  are,  do  you  in  return  tell 
me  who  /am?" 

"Either  Flibbertigibbet,"  answered  Wayland  Smith,  "or 
else  an  imp  of  the  devil  in  good  earnest." 

"  Thou  hast  hit  it, "  answered  Dickie  Sludge ;  "  I  am  thine 
own  Flibbertigibbet,  man ;  and  I  have  broken  forth  of  bounds, 
along  with  my  learned  preceptor,  as  I  told  thee  I  would  do, 
whether  he  would  or  not.  But  what  lady  hast  thou  got  with 
thee?  I  saw  thou  wert  at  fault  the  first  question  was  asked, 
and  so  I  drew  up  for  thy  assistance.  But  I  must  know  all 
who  she  is,  dear  Wayland." 

"Thou  shalt  know  fifty  finer  things,  my  dear  ingle,"  said 
Wayland;  "but  a  truce  to  thine  inquiries  just  now;  and  since 
you  are  bound  for  Kenilworth,  thither  will  I  too,  even  for  the 
love  of  thy  sweet  face  and  waggish  company." 

"  Thou  shouldst  have  said  my  waggish  face  and  sweet  com- 
pany, "  said  Dickie ;  "  but  how  wilt  thou  travel  with  us — I 
mean  in  what  character?" 

"E'en  in  that  thou  hast  assigned  me,  to  be  sure — as  a 
juggler;  thou  know'st  I  am  used  to  the  craft,"  answered 
Wayland. 

"Ay,  but  the  lady?"  answered  Flibbertigibbet;  "credit  me, 
I  think  she  is  one,  and  thou  art  in  a  sea  of  troubles  about  her 
at  this  moment,  as  I  can  perceive  by  thy  fidgeting. " 

"  Oh,  she,  inan ! — she  is  a  poor  sister  of  mine, "  said  Way- 
land.  "  She  can  sing  and  play  o'  the  lute,  would  win  the  fish 
out  o'  the  stream." 

"  Let  me  hear  her  instantly, "  said  the  boy.  "  I  love  the 
lute  rarely — I  love  it  of  all  things,  although  I  never  heard  it. " 

"  Then  how  canst  thou  love  it.  Flibbertigibbet?"  said  Way- 
land. 

"  As  knights  love  ladies  in  old  tales, "  answered  Dickie,  "  on 
hearsay. " 

"  Then  love  it  on  hearsay  a  little  longer,  till  my  sister  is 
recovered  from  the  fatigue  of  her  journey,"  said  Wayland, 


ZENILWORTH.  325 

muttering  afterwards  betwixt  his  teeth,  "  Tlie  devil  take  the 
imp's  curiosity!  I  must  keep  fair  weather  with  him,  or  we 
shall  fare  the  worse, " 

He  then  proceeded  to  state  to  Master  Holiday  his  own  tal- 
ents as  a  juggler,  with  those  of  his  sister  as  a  musician. 
Some  proof  of  his  dexterity  was  demanded,  which  he  gave  in 
such  a  style  of  excellence  that,  delighted  at  obtaining  such  an 
accession  to  their  party,  they  readily  acquiesced  in  the  apology 
which  he  offered  when  a  display  of  his  sister's  talents  was  re- 
quired. The  new-comers  were  invited  to  partake  of  the  re- 
freshments with  which  the  party  were  provided;  and  it  was 
with  some  difficulty  that  Wayland  Smith  obtained  an  oppor- 
tunity of  being  apart  with  his  supposed  sister  during  the  meal, 
of  which  interval  he  availed  himself  to  entreat  her  to  forget 
for  the  present  both  her  rank  and  her  sorrows,  and  conde- 
scend, as  the  most  probable  chance  of  remaining  concealed,  to 
mix  in  the  society  of  those  with  whom  she  was  to  travel. 

The  countess  allowed  the  necessity  of  the  case,  and  when 
they  resumed  their  journey,  endeavoured  to  comply  with  her 
guide's  advice  by  addressing  herself  to  a  female  near  her,  and 
expressing  her  concern  for  the  woman  whom  they  were  thus 
obliged  to  leave  behind  them. 

"  Oh  she  is  well  attended,  madam, "  replied  the  dame  whom 
she  addressed,  who,  from  her  jolly  and  laughter-lovmg  de- 
meanour, might  have  been  the  very  emblem  of  the  Wife  of 
Bath ;  "  and  my  gossip  Laneham  thinks  as  little  of  these  mat- 
ters as  any  one.  By  the  ninth  day,  an  the  revels  last  so  long, 
we  shall  have  her  with  us  at  Keuilworth,  even  if  she  should 
travel  with  her  bantlmg  on  her  back." 

There  was  something  in  this  speech  which  took  away  all  de- 
sire on  the  Countess  of  Leicester's  part  to  continue  the  con- 
versation ;  but  having  broken  the  charm  by  speaking  to  her 
fellow-traveller  first,  the  good  dame,  who  was  to  play  Rare 
Gillian  of  Croydon  ua  one  of  the  interludes,  took  care  that  si- 
lence did  not  again  settle  on  the  journey,  but  entertained  her 
mute  companion  with  a  thousand  anecdotes  of  revels,  from  the 
days  of  King  Harry  downwards,  with  the  reception  given  them 
by  the  great  folk,  and  all  the  names  of  those  who  played  the 


S26  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

principal  characters,  but  ever  concluding  witli  "  They  would 
be  nothing  to  the  princely  pleasures  of  Kenilworth." 

"And  when  shall  we  reach  Kenilworth?"  said  the  countess, 
with  an  agitation  which  she  in  vain  attempted  to  conceal. 

"  We  that  have  horses  may,  with  late  riding,  get  to  "War- 
wick to-night,  and  Kenilworth  may  be  distant  some  four  or 
five  miles ;  but  then  we  must  wait  till  the  foot-people  come 
up;  although  it  is  like  my  good  Lord  of  Leicester  will  have 
horses  or  light  carriages  to  meet  them,  and  bring  them  up 
without  being  travel-toiled,  which  last  is  no  good  preparation, 
as  you  may  suppose,  for  dancing  before  your  betters.  And 
yet,  Lord  help  me,  I  have  seen  the  day  I  would  have  tramped 
five  leagues  of  lea-land,  and  turned  on  my  toe  the  whole  even- 
ing after,  as  a  juggler  spins  a  pewter  platter  on  the  point  of  a 
needle.  But  age  has  clawed  me  somewhat  in  his  clutch, 
as  the  song  says ;  though,  if  I  like  the  tune  and  like  my  part- 
ner, I'll  dance  the  hays  yet  with  any  merry  lass  in  Warwick- 
shire that  writes  that  unhappy  figure  four  with  a  round  O 
after  it." 

If  the  countess  was  overwhelmed  with  the  garrulity  of  this 
good  dame,  Wayland  Smith,  on  his  part,  had  enough  to  do  to 
sustain  and  parry  the  constant  attacks  made  upon  him  by  the 
indefatigable  curiosity  of  his  old  acquaintance,  Richard  Sludge. 
Nature  had  given  that  arch  youngster  a  prying  cast  of  dispo- 
sition, which  matched  admirably  with  his  sharp  wit;  the 
former  inducing  him  to  plant  himself  as  a  spy  on  other  peo- 
ple's affairs,  and  the  latter  quality  leading  him  perpetually  to 
interfere,  after  he  had  made  himself  master  of  that  which 
concerned  him  not.  He  spent  the  livelong  day  in  attempting 
to  peer  under  the  countess's  muffler,  and  apparently  what  he 
could  there  discern  greatly  sharpened  his  curiosity. 

"  That  sister  of  thine,  Wayland, "  he  said,  "  has  a  fair  neck 
to  have  been  born  in  a  smithy,  and  a  pretty  taper  hand  to  have 
been  used  for  twirling  a  spindle ;  faith,  I'll  believe  in  your 
relationship  when  the  crow's  egg  is  hatched  into  a  cygnet." 

"Go  to,"  said  Wayland,  "thou  art  a  prating  boy,  and 
Bhould  be  breeched  for  thine  assurance." 

"Well,"  said  the  imp,  drawing  off,  "all  I  say  is,  remember 


KENILWORTH.  327 

you  have  kept  a  secret  from,  me,  and  if  I  give  thee  not  a  Eow- 
land  for  thine  Oliver,  my  name  is  not  Dickon  Sludge!" 

This  threat,  and  the  distance  at  which  Hobgoblin  kept  from 
him  for  the  rest  of  the  "way,  alarmed  "Wayland  very  much,  and 
he  suggested  to  his  pretended  sister  that,  on  pretext  of  weari- 
ness, she  should  express  a  desire  to  stop  two  or  three  miles 
short  of  the  fair  town  of  War^vick,  promising  to  rejoin  the 
troop  in  the  morning.  A  small  village  inn  afforded  them  a 
resting-place ;  and  it  was  with  secret  pleasure  that  Wayland 
saw  the  whole  party,  including  Dickon,  pass  on,  after  a  cour- 
teous farewell,  and  leave  them  behind. 

"  To-morrow,  madam, "  he  said  to  his  charge,  "  we  will,  with 
your  leave,  again  start  early,  and  reach  Kenilworth  before  the 
rout  which  are  to  assemble  there. " 

The  countess  gave  assent  to  the  proposal  of  her  faithful  guide ; 
but,  somewhat  to  his  surprise,  said  nothing  farther  on  the  sub- 
ject, which  left  Wayland  imder  the  disagreeable  uncertainty 
whether  or  no  she  had  formed  any  plan  for  her  own  future  pro- 
ceedings, as  he  knew  her  situation  demanded  circumspection,  al- 
though he  was  but  imperfectly  acquainted  with  all  its  peculiari- 
ties. Concluding,  however,  that  she  must  have  friends  within 
the  castle,  whose  advice  and  assistance  she  could  safely  trust, 
he  supposed  his  task  would  be  best  accomplished  by  conducting 
her  thither  in  safety,  agreeably  to  her  repeated  commands. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

Hark,  the  bells  summon  and  the  bugle  calls. 

But  she  the  fairest  answers  not ;  the  tide 

Of  nobles  and  of  ladies  throngs  the  halls, 

But  she  the  loveliest  must  in  secret  hide. 

"What  eyes  were  thine,  proud  prince,  which  in  the  gleam 

Of  yon  gay  meteors  lost  that  better  sense, 

That  o'er  the  glow-worm  doth  the  star  esteem, 

And  merit's  modest  blush  o'er  courtly  insolence? 

Tlie  Glass  Slipper. 

The  unfortunate  Countess  of  Leicester  had,  from  her  in- 
fancy upwards,  been  treated  by  those  around  her  with  mdul- 
gence  as  unbounded  as  injudicious.     The  natural  sweetness  of 


328  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

her  disposition,  liad  saved  her  from  becoming  insolent  and  ill* 
humoured;  but  the  caprice  -which  preferred  the  handsome  and 
insinuating  Leicester  before  Tressilian,  of  whose  high  honour 
and  unalterable  affection  she  herself  entertained  so  firm  an 
opinion — that  fatal  error,  which  ruined  the  happiness  of  her 
life,  had  its  origin  in  the  mistaken  kindness  that  had  sj)ared 
her  childhood  the  painful,  but  most  necessary,  lesson  of  sub- 
mission and  seK-command.  From  the  same  indulgence,  it  fol- 
lowed that  she  had  only  been  accustomed  to  form  and  to  ex- 
press her  wishes,  leaving  to  others  the  task  of  fulfilling  them; 
and  thus,  at  the  most  momentous  period  of  her  life,  she  wa8 
alike  destitute  of  presence  of  mind  and  of  ability  to  form  for 
herself  any  reasonable  or  prudent  plan  of  conduct. 

These  difficulties  pressed  on  the  imfortunate  lady  with  over- 
whelming force,  on  the  morning  which  seemed  to  be  the  cri- 
sis of  her  fate.  Overlooking  every  intermediate  consideration, 
she  had  only  desired  to  be  at  Kenilworth,  and  to  approach 
her  husband's  presence ;  and  now,  when  she  was  in  the  vicin- 
ity of  both,  a  thousand  consideration^  arose  at  once  upon  her 
mind,  startling  her  with  acciunulated  doubts  and  dangers,  some 
real,  some  imaginary,  and  all  exalted  and  exaggerated  by  a 
situation  alike  helpless  and  destitute  of  aid  and  counsel. 

A  sleepless  night  rendered  her  so  weak  in  the  morning  that 
she  was  altogether  unable  to  attend  Wayland's  early  sum- 
mons. The  trusty  guide  became  extremely  distressed  on  the 
lady's  account,  and  somewhat  alarmed  on  his  own,  and  was 
on  the  point  of  going  alone  to  Kenilworth,  in  the  hope  of  dis- 
covering Tressilian,  and  intimating  to  him  the  lady's  api^roach, 
when  about  nine  in  the  morning  he  was  summoned  to  attend 
her.  He  found  her  dressed,  and  ready  for  resuming  her  jour- 
ney, but  with  a  paleness  of  countenance  which  alarmed  him 
for  her  health.  She  intimated  her  desire  that  the  horses 
might  be  got  instantly  ready,  and  resisted  with  impatience 
her  guide's  request  that  she  would  take  some  refreshment  be- 
fore setting  forward.  "I  have  had,''  she  said,  "a  cup  of 
water:  the  Avretch  who  is  dragged  to  execution  needs  no 
stronger  cordial,  and  that  may  serve  me  which  suffices  for 
him  J  do  as  I  command  you,"     Wayland  Smith  still  hesitated^ 


KENILWORTH.  329 

"What  would  you  have?"  said  she.     "Have  I  not  spoken 
plainly?" 

"Yes,  madam,"  answered  Wayland;  "but  may  I  ask  what 
la  your  farther  purpose?  I  only  desii-e  to  know,  that  I  may 
guide  myself  by  your  wishes.  The  whole  country  is  afloat, 
and  streaming  towards  the  Castle  of  Kenilworth.  It  will  be 
difficult  travelling  thither,  even  if  we  had  the  necessary  pass- 
ports for  safe-conduct  and  free  admittance.  Unknown  and 
unfriended,  we  may  come  by  mishap.  Your  ladyship  will 
forgive  my  speaking  my  poor  mind.  Were  we  not  better  try 
to  find  out  the  masquers,  and  again  join  ourselves  with  them?'* 
The  countess  shook  her  head,  and  her  guide  proceeded,  "  Then 
I  see  but  one  other  remedy." 

"Si)eak  out,  then,"  said  the  lady,  not  displeased,  perhaps, 
that  he  should  thus  oifer  the  advice  which  she  was  ashamed 
to  ask;  "I  believe  thee  faithful — what  wouldst  thou  counsel?" 

"That  I  should  warn  Master  Tressilian,"  said  Wayland, 
**  that  you  are  in  this  place.  I  am  right  certain  he  would  get 
to  horse  with  a  few  of  Lord  Sussex's  followers,  and  ensure 
your  personal  safety." 

"And  is  it  to  m&  you  advise,"  said  the  countess,  "to  put 
myself  under  the  protection  of  Sussex,  the  unworthy  rival  of 
the  noble  Leicester?"  Then,  seeing  the  surprise  with  which 
Wayland  stared  upon  her,  and  afraid  of  having  too  strongly 
intimated  her  interest  in  Leicester,  she  added,  "And  for 
Tressilian,  it  must  not  be :  mention  not  to  him,  I  charge  you, 
my  unhappy  name ;  it  would  but  double  mv  misfortunes,  and 
involve  hijn  in  dangers  beyond  the  power  of  rescue."  She 
paused;  but  when  she  observed  that  Wayland  continued  to 
look  on  her  with  that  anxious  and  uncertain  gaze  which  in- 
dicated a  doubt  whether  her  brain  was  settled,  she  assumed 
an  air  of  composure,  and  added,  "  Do  thou  but  guide  me  to 
Kenilworth  Castle,  good  fellow,  and  thy  task  is  ended,  since  I 
will  then  judge  what  farther  is  to  be  done.  Thou  hast  yet 
been  true  to  me;  here  is  something  that  will  make  thee  rich 
amends." 

She  oifered  the  artist  a  ring,  containing  a  valuable  stone. 
Wayland  looked  at  it,  hesitated  a  moment,  and  then  retui-ned 


330  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

it.  "  Not, "  lie  said,  "  that  I  am  above  your  kindness,  madam, 
being  but  a  poor  fellow,  wlio  have  been  forced,  God  help  me! 
to  live  by  worse  shifts  than  the  bounty  of  such  a  person  as 
you.  But,  as  my  old  master  the  farrier  used  to  say  to  his 
customers,  *No  cure,  no  pay.'  We  are  not  yet  in  Kenil worth 
Castle,  and  it  is  time  enough  to  discharge  your  guide,  as  they 
say,  when  you  take  your  boots  off.  I  trust  in  God  your  lady- 
ship is  as  well  assured  of  fitting  reception  when  you  arrive  as 
you  may  hold  yourself  certain  of  my  best  endeavours  to  con- 
duct you  thither  safely.  I  go  to  get  the  horses ;  meantime, 
let  me  pray  you  once  more,  as  your  poor  physician  as  well  as 
guide,  to  take  some  sustenance." 

"  I  will — I  will, "  said  the  lady,  hastily.  "  Begone — begone 
instantly!  It  is  in  vain  I  assume  audacity,"  said  she,  when 
he  left  the  room ;  "  even  this  poor  groom  sees  through  my 
affectation  of  courage,  and  fathoms  the  very  ground  of  my 
fears." 

She  then  attempted  to  follow  her  guide's  advice  by  taking 
some  food,  but  was  compelled  to  desist,  as  the  effort  to  swallow 
even  a  single  morsel  gave  her  so  much  uneasiness  as  amounted 
wellnigh  to  suffocation.  A  moment  afterwards  the  horses  ap- 
peared at  the  latticed  window;  the  lady  mounted,  and  found 
that  relief  from  the  free  air  and  change  of  place  which  is  fre- 
quently experienced  in  similar  circumstances. 

It  chanced  well  for  the  countess's  purpose  that  Way  land 
Smith,  whose  j)revious  wandering  and  imsettled  life  had  made 
him  acquainted  with  almost  all  England,  was  intimate  with 
all  the  bye-roads,  as  well  as  direct  communications,  through 
the  beautiful  county  of  Warwick.  For  such  and  so  great  was 
the  throng  which  flocked  in  all  directions  towards  Kenilworth, 
to  see  the  entry  of  Elizabeth  into  that  splendid  mansion  of  her 
prime  favourite,  that  the  principal  roads  were  actually  blocked 
up  and  interrupted,  and  it  was  only  by  circuitous  bye-paths 
that  the  travellers  could  proceed  on  their  journey. 

The  Queen's  purveyors  had  been  abroad,  sweeping  the 
farms  and  villages  of  those  articles  usually  exacted  during  a 
royal  progress,  and  for  which  the  owners  were  afterwards  to 
obtain  a  tardy  payment  from  the  Board  of  Green  Cloth.     The 


KENILWORTH.  331 

Earl  of  Leicester's  household  officers  had  been  scouring  the 
country  for  the  same  purpose ;  and  many  of  his  friends  and 
allies,  both  near  and  remote,  took  this  opportimity  of  in- 
gratiating themselves  by  sending  large  quantities  of  provisions 
and  delicacies  of  all  kinds,  with  game  in  huge  numbers,  and 
whole  tuns  of  the  best  liquors,  foreign  and  domestic.  Thus, 
the  highroads  were  filled  with  droves  of  bullocks,  sheep, 
calves,  and  hogs,  and  choked  with  loaded  wains,  whose  axle- 
trees  cracked  under  their  burdens  of  wine-casks  and  hogsheads 
of  ale,  and  huge  hampers  of  grocery  goods,  and  slaughtered 
game,  and  salted  provisions,  and  sacks  of  flour.  Perpetual 
stoppages  took  place  as  these  wains  became  entangled;  and 
their  rude  drivers,  swearing  and  brawling  till  their  wild 
passions  were  fully  raised,  began  to  debate  precedence  with 
their  waggon-whips  and  quarter-staves,  which  occasional  riots 
were  usually  quieted  by  a  purveyor,  deputy-marshal's  man,  or 
some  other  person  in  authority,  breaking  the  heads  of  bath 
parties. 

Here  were,  besides,  players  and  mummers,  jugglers  and 
showmen,  of  every  description,  traversing  in  joyous  bands  the 
paths  which  led  to  the  Palace  of  Princely  Pleasure ;  for  so  the 
travelling  minstrels  had  termed  Kenilworth  in  the  songs  which 
already  had  come  forth  in  anticipation  of  the  revels  which 
were  there  expected.'  In  the  midst  of  this  motley  show, 
mendicants  were  exhibitmg  their  real  or  pretended  miseries, 
forming  a  strange,  though  common,  contrast  betwixt  the  vani- 
ties and  the  sorrows  of  human  existence.  All  these  floated  along 
with  the  immense  tide  of  population,  whom  mere  curiosity  had 
drawn  together;  and  where  the  mechanic,  in  his  leathern 
apron,  elbowed  the  dink  and  dainty  dame,  his  city  mistress  j 
where  clowns,  with  hobnailed  shoes,  were  treading  on  the 
kibes  of  substantial  burghers  and  gentlemen  of  worship ;  and 
where  Joan  of  the  dairy,  with  robust  pace,  and  red,  sturdy 
arms,  rowed  her  way  onward,  amongst  those  prim  and  pretty 
moppets  whose  sires  were  knights  and  squires. 

The  throng  and  confusion  was,  however,  of  a  gay  and  cheer- 
ful character.  All  came  forth  to  see  and  to  enjoy,  and  all 
•  See  Pilgrims  to  Kenilworth.    Note  12. 


332  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

laughed  at  the  trifling  inconveniences  which  at  another  time 
might  have  chafed  their  temper.  Excepting  the  occasional 
"brawls  which  we  have  mentioned  among  that  irritable  race  the 
carmen,  the  mingled  sounds  which  arose  from  the  multitude 
w^ere  those  of  light-hearted  mirth  and  tiptoe  jollity.  The 
musicians  preluded  on  their  instruments,  the  minstrels 
hummed  their  songs,  the  licensed  jester  whooped  betwixt 
mirth  and  madness  as  he  brandished  his  bauble,  the  morrice- 
dancers  jangled  their  bells,  the  rustics  hallooed  and  whistled, 
men  laughed  loud,  and  maidens  giggled  shrill,  while  many  a 
broad  jest  flew  like  a  shuttlecock  from  one  party,  to  be  caught 
in  the  air  and  returned  from  the  opposite  side  of  the  road  by 
another,  at  which  it  was  aimed. 

No  infliction  can  be  so  distressing  to  a  mind  absorbed  in 
melancholy  as  being  plunged  into  a  scene  of  mirth  and  revelry, 
forming  an  accompaniment  so  dissonant  from  its  own  feelings. 
Yst,  in  the  case  of  the  Countess  of  Leicester,  the  noise  and 
tumult  of  this  giddy  scene  distracted  her  thoughts,  and  ren- 
dered her  this  sad  service,  that  it  became  impossible  for  her  to 
brood  on  her  own  misery,  or  to  form  terrible  anticipations  of 
her  approaching  fate.  She  travelled  on,  like  one  in  a  dream, 
following  implicitly  the  guidance  of  "Wayland,  who,  with 
great  address,  now  threaded  his  way  through  the  general 
throng  of  passengers,  now  stood  still  until  a  favourable  op- 
portunity occurred  of  again  moving  forward,  and  frequently 
turning  altogether  out  of  the  direct  road,  followed  some  cir- 
cuitous bye-path,  which  brought  them  into  the  highway  again, 
after  having  given  them  the  opportunity  of  traversing  a  con- 
siderable way  with  greater  ease  and  rapidity. 

It  was  thus  he  avoided  Warwick,  within  whose  castle  (that 
fairest  monument  of  ancient  and  chivalrous  splendour  which 
yet  remains  uninjured  by  time)  Elizabeth  had  passed  the  pre- 
vious night,  and  where  she  was  to  tarry  until  past  noon, 
at  that  time  the  general  hour  of  dinner  throughout  England, 
after  which  repast  she  was  to  proceed  to  Kenilworth.  In  the 
mean  while,  each  passing  group  had  something  to  say  in  the 
sovereign's  praise,  though  not  absolutely  without  the  usual 
mixture  of  satire  which  qualifies  more  or  less  our  estimate 


KENILWORTH.  333 

of  our  neighbours,  especially  if  they  chance  to  be  also  our 
betters. 

"Heard  you,"  said  one,  "how  graciously  she  spoke  to 
Master  Bailiff  and  the  Kecorder,  and  to  good  Master  Griffin, 
the  preacher,  as  they  kneeled  dowii  at  her  coach  window?" 

"  Ay,  and  how  she  said  to  little  Aglionby,  "  Master  Eecorder, 
men  would  have  persuaded  me  that  you  were  afraid  of  me,  but 
trul}-  I  think,  so  well  did  you  reckon  up  to  me  the  virtues  of  a 
sovereign,  that  I  have  more  reason  to  be  afraid  of  you. "  And 
then  with  what  grace  she  took  the  fair-wrought  purse  with  the 
twenty  gold  sovereigns,  seeming  as  though  she  would  not  will- 
ingly handle  it,  and  yet  taking  it  withal." 

"  Ay — ay, "  said  another,  "  her  fingers  closed  on  it  pretty 
willingly  methought,  when  all  was  done ;  and  methought,  too, 
she  weighed  them  for  a  second  in  her  hand,  as  she  would  say, 
"I  hope  they  be  avoirdupois." 

"  She  needed  not,  neighbor, "  said  a  third ;  "  it  is  only  when 
the  corporation  pay  the  accounts  of  a  poor  handicraft  like  me 
that  they  put  him  off  with  dipt  coin.  Well,  there  is  a  God 
above  all.  Little  Master  Recorder,  since  that  is  the  word, 
will  be  greater  now  than  ever." 

"Come,  good  neighbour,"  said  the  first  speaker,  "be  not 
envious.  She  is  a  good  queen,  and  a  generous.  She  gave 
the  purse  to  the  Earl  of  Leicester." 

"I  envious?  beshrew  thy  heart  for  the  word!"  replied  the 
handicraft.  "  But  she  will  give  all  to  the  Earl  of  Leicester 
anon,  methinks." 

"You  are  turning  ill,  lady,"  said  Wayland  Smith  to  the 
Countess  of  Leicester,  and  proposed  that  she  slioidd  di-aw  off 
from  the  road,  and  halt  till  she  recovered.  But,  subdumg 
her  feelings  at  this  and  different  speeches  to  the  same  purpose 
which  caught  her  ear  as  they  passed  on,  she  insisted  that  her 
guide  should  proceed  to  Kenilworth  with  all  the  haste  which 
the  numerous  impediments  of  their  journey  permitted.  Mean- 
while, Wayland' s  anxiety  at  her  repeated  fits  of  indisposition 
and  her  obvious  distraction  of  mind  was  hourly  mereasing, 
and  he  became  extremely  desirous  that,  according  to  her  re- 
iterated requests,  she  should  be  safely  introduced  into  the 


334  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

castle,  where,  he  doubted  not,  she  was  secure  of  a  kind  re- 
ception, though  she  seemed  unwilling  to  reveal  on  whom  she  re- 
posed her  hopes, 

"  An  I  were  once  rid  of  this  peril, "  thought  he,  "  and  if  any 
man  shall  find  me  playing  squire  of  the  body  to  a  damosel- 
errant,  he  shall  have  leave  to  beat  my  brains  out  with  my  o^vn 
■sledge-hammer !" 

At  length  the  princely  castle  appeared,  upon  improving 
^hich,  and  the  domains  around,  the  Earl  of  Leicester  had,  it 
is  said,  expended  sixty  thousand  pounds  sterling,  a  sum  equal 
to  half  a  million  of  our  present  money. 

The  outer  wall  of  this  splendid  and  gigantic  structure  in- 
closed seven  acres,  a  part  of  which  was  occupied  by  extensive 
stables,  and  by  a  pleasure  garden,  with  its  trim  arbours  and 
parterres,  and  the  rest  formed  the  large  base-court,  or  outer 
yard,  of  the  noble  castle.  The  lordly  structure  itself,  which 
Tose  near  the  centre  of  this  spacious  inclosure,  was  composed 
of  a  huge  pile  of  magnificent  castellated  buildings,  apparently 
of  different  ages,  surrounding  an  inner  court,  and  bearmg,  in 
the  names  attached  to  each  portion  of  the  magnificent  mass, 
and  in  the  armorial  bearings  which  were  there  blazoned,  the 
emblems  of  mighty  chiefs  who  had  long  passed  away,  and 
"whose  history,  could  Ambition  have  lent  ear  to  it,  might  have 
read  a  lesson  to  the  haughty  favourite  who  had  now  acquired, 
-and  was  augmenting,  the  fair  domain.  A  large  and  massive 
keep,  which  formed  the  citadel  of  the  castle,  was  of  uncertain 
though  great  antiquity.  It  bore  the  name  of  Caesar,  perhaps 
from  its  resemblance  to  that  in  the  Tower  of  London  so  called. 
Some  antiquaries  ascribe  its  foundation  to  the  time  of  Kenelph, 
from  whom  the  castle  had  its  name,  a  Saxon  king  of  IVIercia, 
and  others  to  an  early  era  after  the  Norman  Conquest.  On 
the  exterior  walls  frowned  the  scutcheon  of  the  Clintons,  by 
"whom  they  were  founded  in  the  reign  of  Henry  I.,  and  of  the 
yet  more  redoubted  Simon  de  Montfort,  by  whom,  during  the 
Barons'  Wars,  Kenilworth  was  long  held  out  against  Henry 
III.  Here  Mortimer,  Earl  of  March,  famous  alike  for  his 
xise  and  his  fall  had  once  gaily  revelled  in  Kenilworth,  while 
ills    dethroned    sovereign,    Edward    II.,    languished    in    its 


KENILWORTH.  335 

dungeons.  Old  John  of  Gaunt,  "time-honoured  Lancaster," 
had  widely  extended  the  castle,  erecting  that  noble  and  massive 
pile  which  yet  bears  the  name  of  Lancaster's  Buildings;  and 
Leicester  himself  had  outdone  the  former  possessors,  princely 
and  powerful  as  they  were,  by  erecting  another  immense 
structure,  which  now  lies  crushed  under  its  own  ruins,  the 
monument  of  its  owner's  ambition.  The  external  wall  of  this 
royal  castle  was,  on  the  south  and  west  sides,  adorned  and 
defended  by  a  lake  partly  artificial,  across  which  Leicester  had 
constructed  a  stately  bridge,  that  Elizabeth  might  enter  the 
castle  by  a  path  hitherto  untrodden,  instead  of  the  usual  en- 
trance to  the  northward,  over  which  he  had  erected  a  gate- 
house, or  barbican,  which  still  exists,  and  is  equal  in  extent, 
and  superior  in  architecture,  to  the  baronial  castle  of  many 
a  northern  chief. 

Beyond  the  lake  lay  an  extensive  chase,  full  of  red  deer, 
fallow  deer,  roes,  and  every  species  of  game,  and  abounding 
with  lofty  trees,  from  amongst  which  the  extended  front  and 
massive  towers  of  the  castle  were  seen  to  rise  in  majesty  and 
beauty.  We  cannot  but  add,  that  of  this  lordly  palace,  where 
princes  feasted  and  heroes  fought,  now  in  the  bloody  earnest 
of  storm  and  siege,  and  now  in  the  games  of  chivalry,  where 
beauty  dealt  the  prize  which  valour  won,  all  is  now  desolate. 
The  bed  of  the  lake  is  but  a  rushy  swamp ;  and  the  massive 
ruins  of  the  castle  only  serve  to  show  what  their  splendour 
once  was,  and  to  impress  on  the  musing  visitor  the  transitory 
value  of  human  possessions,  and  the  happiness  of  those  who 
enjoy  a  humble  lot  in  virtuous  contentment. 

It  was  with  far  different  feelings  that  the  unfortunate 
Coimtess  of  Leicester  viewed  those  grey  and  massive  towers, 
when  she  first  beheld  them  rise  above  the  embowering  and 
richly  shaded  woods,  over  which  they  seemed  to  preside. 
She,  the  imdoubted  wife  of  the  great  earl,  of  Elizabeth's  min- 
ion and  England's  mighty  favourite,  was  approaching  the 
presence  of  her  husband  and  that  husband's  sovereign  under 
the  protection,  rather  than  the  guidance,  of  a  poor  juggler; 
and  though  vmquestioned  mistress  of  that  proud  castle,  whose 
lightest  word  ought  to  have  had  force  sufficient  to  make  its 


336  WAVERLET  IS'OVELS. 

gates  leap  from  tlieir  massive  hinges  to  receive  her,  yet  she 
could  uot  conceal  from  herself  the  difficulty  and  peril  which 
she  must  experience  in  gaining  admission  into  her  own  halls. 

The  risk  and  difficulty,  indeed,  seemed  to  increase  every 
moment,  and  at  length  threatened  altogether  to  put  a  stop  to 
her  farther  progress,  at  the  great  gate  leading  to  a  broad  and 
fair  road,  which,  traversing  the  breadth  of  the  chase  for  the 
space  of  two  miles,  and  commanding  several  most  beautiful 
views  of  the  castle  and  lake,  terminated  at  the  newly  con- 
structed bridge,  to  which  it  was  an  appendage,  and  which  was 
destined  to  form  the  Queen's  approach  to  the  castle  on  that 
memorable  occasion. 

Here  the  countess  and  Wayland  found  the  gate  at  the  end 
of  this  avenue,  which  opened  on  the  Warwick  road,  guarded 
by  a  body  of  the  Queen's  mounted  yeomen  of  the  guard,  armed 
in  corslets  richly  carved  and  gilded,  and  wearing  morions  m- 
stead  of  bonnets,  having  their  carabines  resting  with  the  butt- 
end  on  their  thighs.  These  guards,  distinguished  for  strength 
and  stature,  who  did  duty  wherever  the  Queen  went  in  person, 
were  here  stationed  under  the  direction  of  a  pursuivant,  graced 
with  the  bear  and  ragged  staff  on  his  arm,  as  belonging  to  the 
Earl  of  Leicester,  and  peremptorily  refused  all  admittance 
excepting  to  such  as  were  guests  invited  to  the  festival,  or 
persons  who  were  to  perform  some  part  in  the  mirthful  exhi- 
bitions which  were  proposed. 

The  press  was  of  consequence  great  around  the  entrance, 
and  persons  of  all  kinds  presented  every  sort  of  plea  for  ad- 
mittance ;  to  which  the  guards  turned  an  inexorable  ear,  plead- 
ing in  return  to  fair  words,  and  even  to  fair  offers,  the  strict- 
ness of  their  orders,  founded  on  the  Queen's  well-lcno-wn 
dislike  to  the  rude  pressing  of  a  multitude.  With  those  whom 
such  reasons  did  not  serve,  they  dealt  more  rudely,  repelling 
them  without  ceremony  by  the  pressure  of  their  powerful 
barbed  horses,  and  good  round  blows  from  the  stock  of  their 
carabines.  These  last  manoeuvres  produced  undulations 
amongst  the  crowd  which  rendered  Wayland  much  afraid 
that  he  might  perforce  be  separated  from  his  charge  in  the 
throng.     Neither  did  he  know  what  excuse  to  make  in  order 


IK! 


Tht:  liigliroiids  wcri'  filled  witli  droves  of  bullocks,  sheep,  calves,  and  liogs,  and 
choked  witli  loadi'd  wains. 


KENILWORTH.  337 

to  obtain  admittance,  and  he  was  debating  the  matter  in  his 
head  Avith  great  uncertainty'-,  when  the  eai-l's  pursuivant,  hav- 
ing cast  an  eye  upon  him,  exclaimed,  to  his  no  small  sui-prise, 
"Yeomen,  make  room  for  the  fellow  in  the  orange-taAvny 
cloak.  Come  forward,  sir  coxcomb,  and  make  haste.  What, 
in  the  fiend's  name,  has  kept  you  waiting?  Come  forward 
with  your  bale  of  woman's  gear." 

While  the  pursuivant  gave  Wayland  this  pressing  yet  un- 
courteous  invitation,  which,  for  a  mmute  or  two,  he  could  not 
imagine  was  applied  to  him,  the  yeomen  speedily  made  a  free 
passage  for  him,  while,  only  cautioning  his  companion  to  keep 
the  muffler  close  around  her  face,  he  entered  the  gate  leading 
her  palfrey,  but  with  such  a  drooping  crest,  and  such  a  look 
of  conscious  fear  and  anxiety,  that  the  crowd,  not  greatly 
pleased  at  any  rate  with  the  preference  bestowed  upon  them, 
accompanied  their  admission  with  hooting  and  a  loud  laugh 
of  derision. 

Admitted  thus  within  the  chase,  though  with  no  very  flatter- 
ing notice  or  distinction,  Wayland  and  his  charge  rode  forward, 
musing  what  difficulties  it  would  be  next  their  lot  to  encoun- 
ter, through  the  broad  avenue,  which  was  sentinelled  on  either 
side  by  a  long  line  of  retainers,  armed  with  swords  and  parti- 
zans,  richly  dressed  in  the  Earl  of  Leicester's  liveries,  and 
bearing  his  cognizance  of  the  bear  and  ragged  staff,  each 
placed  within  three  paces  of  his  comrade,  so  as  to  line  the 
whole  road  from  the  entrance  into  the  park  to  the  bridge. 
And,  indeed,  when  the  lady  obtained  the  first  commanding 
view  of  the  castle,  with  its  stately  towers  rising  from  within 
a  long  sweeping  line  of  outward  walls,  ornamented  with  bat- 
tlements, and  turrets,  and  platforms  at  every  point  of  defence, 
with  many  a  banner  streaming  from  its  walls,  and  such  a 
bustle  of  gay  crests  and  waving  jjlumes  disposed  on  the  ter- 
races and  battlements,  and  all  the  gay  and  gorgeous  scene,  lier 
heart,  miaccustomed  to  such  splendour,  sank  as  if  it  died 
within  her,  and  for  a  moment  she  asked  herself  what  she  had 
oifered  up  to  Leicester  to  deserve  to  become  the  partner  of 
this  princely  splendour.  But  her  pride  and  generous  spirit 
resisted  the  whisper  which  bade  her  despair. 
22 


338  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

" I  have  given,  him,"  she  said,  "all  that  -woman  has  to  give» 
Kame  and  fame,  heart  and  hand,  have  I  given  the  lord  of  all 
this  magnificence  at  the  altar,  and  England's  queen  could  give 
him  no  more.  He  is  my  husband;  I  am  his  wife.  Whom 
God  hath  joined,  man  cannot  sunder,  I  will  be  bold  in  claim- 
ing my  right ;  even  the  bolder,  that  I  come  thus  unexpected, 
and  thus  forlorn.  I  know  my  noble  Dudley  well!  He  will 
be  something  impatient  at  my  disobeying  him;  but  Amy  will 
weep,  and  Dudley  will  forgive  her." 

These  meditations  were  interrupted  by  a  cry  of  surprise 
from  her  guide  Wayland,  who  suddenly  felt  himself  grasped 
firmly  round  the  body  by  a  pair  of  long  thin  black  arms,  be- 
longing to  some  one  who  had  dropped  himseK  out  of  an  oak- 
tree  upon  the  croup  of  his  horse,  amidst  the  shouts  of  laughter 
which  burst  from  the  sentinels. 

"This  must  be  the  devil  or  Flibbertigibbet  again!"  said 
Wayland,  after  a  vain  struggle  to  disengage  himself,  and  un- 
horse the  urchin  who  climg  to  him.  "  Do  Kenil worth  oaks 
bear  such  acorns?" 

"  In  sooth  do  they,  Master  Wayland, "  said  his  unexpected 
adjunct,  "  and  many  others  too  hard  for  you  to  crack,  for  as 
old  as  you  are,  without  my  teaching  you.  How  would  you 
have  passed  the  pursuivant  at  the  upper  gate  yonder,  had 
not  I  warned  him  our  principal  juggler  was  to  follow  us? 
And  here  have  I  waited  for  you,  having  clambered  up  into  the 
tree  from  the  top  of  our  wain,  and  I  suppose  they  are  all  mad 
for  want  of  me  by  this  time." 

"Nay,  then,  thou  art  a  limb  of  the  devil  in  good  earnest," 
said  Wayland.  "  I  give  thee  way,  good  imp,  and  will  walk 
by  thy  counsel ;  only  as  thou  art  powerful,  be  merciful. " 

As  he  spoke,  they  approached  a  strong  tower,  at  the  south 
extremity  of  the  long  bridge  we  have  mentioned,  which  served 
to  protect  the  outer  gateway  of  the  Castle  of  Kenilworth. 

Under  such  disastrous  circumstances,  and  in  such  singular 
company,  did  the  unfortunate  Countess  of  Leicester  approach 
for  the  first  time  the  magnificent  abode  of  her  almost  princely 
husband.' 

>  See  Amy  Kobsart  at  Kenilworth.    Note  13. 


KENILWORTH.  339 


CHAPTER   XXVI. 

Snuff.  Have  you  the  lion's  part  written?  Pray  you,  if  it  be,  give  it  me, 
for  I  am  slow  of  study. 

Quince.    You  may  do  it  extempore,  for  it  is  nothing  but  roaring. 

Midsummer  Night's  Dream. 

When  the  Countess  of  Leicester  arrived  at  the  outer  gate  of 
the  Castle  of  Kenilworth,  she  found  the  tower,  beneath  which 
its  ample  portal  arch  opened,  guarded  in  a  singular  manner. 
Upon  the  battlements  were  placed  gigantic  warders,  with 
clubs,  battle-axes,  and  other  implements  of  ancient  warfare, 
designed  to  represent  the  soldiers  of  King  Arthur;  those  jjrim- 
itive  Britons  by  whom,  accordmg  to  romantic  tradition,  the 
castle  had  been  first  tenanted,  though  history  carried  back  its 
antiquity  only  to  the  times  of  the  Heptarchy.  Some  of  these 
tremendous  figures  were  real  men,  di-essed  up  with  vizards  and 
buskins;  others  were  mere  pageants  composed  of  pasteboard 
and  buckram,  which,  viewed  from  beneath,  and  mingled  with 
those  that  were  real,  formed  a  sufficiently  striking  representa- 
tion of  what  was  intended.  But  the  gigantic  porter  who  waited 
at  the  gate  beneath,  and  actually  discharged  the  duties  of 
warder,  owed  none  of  his  terrors  to  fictitious  means.  He 
■was  a  man  whose  huge  stature,  thewes,  sinews,  and  bulk  in 
proportion,  would  ha^e  enabled  him  to  enact  Colbrand,  Asca- 
part,  or  any  other  giant  of  romance,  without  raising  himself 
nearer  to  heaven  even  by  the  altitude  of  a  chopin. '  The  legs 
and  knees  of  this  son  of  Anak  were  bare,  as  Avere  his  arms, 
from  a  span  below  the  shoulder;  but  his  feet  were  defended 
with  sandals,  fastened  with  cross  straps  of  scarlet  leather, 
studded  with  brazen  knobs.  A  close  jerkin  of  scarlet  velvet, 
looped  with  gold,  with  short  breeches  of  the  same,  covered 
his  body  and  a  part  of  his  limbs ;  and  he  wore  on  his  shoul- 
ders, instead  of  a  cloak,  the  skin  of  a  black  bear.  The  head 
of  this  formidable  person  was  uncovered,  except  by  his  shaggy 
black  hair,  which  descended  on  either  side  around  features  of 

« See  Note  U. 


340  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

that  huge,  lumpisli,  and  heavy  cast  which  are  often  annexed 
to  men  of  very  uncommon  size,  and  which,  notwithstanding 
some  distinguished  exceptions,  have  created  a  general  preju- 
dice against  giants,  as  being  a  dull  and  sullen  kind  of  persons. 
This  tremendous  warder  was  appropriately  armed  with  a 
heavy  club  spiked  with  steel.  In  fine,  he  represented  excel- 
lently one  of  those  giants  of  popular  romance  who  figure  in 
every  fairy  tale  or  legend  of  knight-errantry. 

The  demeanour  of  this  modern  Titan,  when  Wayland.  Smith 
bent  his  attention  to  him,  had  in  it  something  arguing  much 
mental  embarrassment  and  vexation;  for  sometimes  he  sat 
down  for  an  instant  on  a  massive  stone  bench,  whix;h  seemed 
placed  for  his  accommodation  beside  the  gateway,  and  then 
ever  and  anon  he  started  up,  scratching  his  huge  head,  and 
striding  to  and  fro  on  his  post,  like  one  imder  a  fit  of  impa- 
tience and  anxiety.  It  was  while  the  porter  was  pacing  be- 
fore the  gate  in  this  agitated  manner  that  Wayland,  modestly, 
yet  as  a  matter  of  course  (not,  however,  without  some  mental 
misgiving),  was  about  to  pass  him  and  enter  the  portal  arch. 
The  porter,  however,  stopped  his  progress,  bidding  him,  in  a 
thundering  voice,  "  Stand  back!"  and  enforcing  his  injunction 
by  heaving  up  his  steel-shod  mace,  and  dashing  it  on  the 
ground  before  Wayland' s  horse's  nose  with  such  vehemence 
that  the  pavement  flashed  fire  and  the  archway  rang  to  the 
clamour.  Wayland,  availing  himself  of  Dickie's  hint,  began 
to  state  that  he  belonged  to  a  band  of  performers  to  which  his 
presence  was  indispensable,  that  he  fiad  been  accidentally 
detained  behind,  and  much  to  the  same  purpose.  But  the 
warder  was  inexorable,  and  kept  muttering  and  murmuring 
something  betwixt  his  teeth,  which  Wayland  could  make  lit- 
tle of ;  and  addressing  betwixt  whiles  a  refusal  of  admittance, 
couched  in  language  which  was  but  too  intelligible.  A  speci- 
men of  his  speech  might  run  thus :  "  What,  how  now,  my 
masters?  (To  himself)  "Here's  a  stir — here's  a  coil.  (Then 
to  Wayland)  You  are  a  loitering  knave,  and  shall  have  no 
entrance.  (Again  to  himself)  Here's  a  throng — here's  a 
thrusting,  I  shall  ne'er  get  through  with  it.  Here's  a — 
humph — ha.      (To  Wayland)    Back  from  the   gate,   or  I'll 


KENILWORTH.  341 

break  the  pate  of  thee.  (Oace  more  to  himself)  Here's  a — 
ao,  I  shall  never  get  through  it. " 

"Stand  still,"  whispered  Flibtertigibbet  into  Waylaud's 
ear ;  "I  know  where  the  shoe  pinches,  and  will  tame  him  in 
an  instant." 

He  dropped  down  from  the  horse,  and  skipping  up  to  the 
porter,  plucked  him  by  the  tail  of  the  bearskin,  so  as  to  in- 
duce him  to  decline  his  huge  head,  and  whispered  something 
in  his  ear.  Not  at  the  command  of  the  lord  of  some  Eastern 
talisman  did  ever  Af rite  change  his  horrid  frown  into  a  look 
of  smooth  submission  more  suddenly  than  the  gigantic  porter 
of  Kenilworth  relaxed  the  terrors  of  his  look  at  the  instant 
Flibbertigibbet's  whisper  reached  his  ears.  He  flung  his  club 
upon  the  gi-ound  and  caught  up  Dickie  Sludge,  raising  him  to 
such  a  distance  from  the  earth  as  might  have  proved  perilous 
had  he  chanced  to  let  him  slip. 

"  It  is  even  so, "  he  said,  with  a  thundering  sound  of  exul- 
tation— "it  is  even  so,  my  little  dandieprat.  But  who  the 
devil  could  teach  it  thee?" 

"Do  not  thou  care  about  that,"  said  Flibbertigibbet; 
"  but — "  he  looked  at  Wayland  and  the  lady,  and  then  sunk 
what  he  had  to  say  in  a  whisper,  which  needed  not  be 
a  loud  one,  as  the  giant  held  him  for  his  convenience  close  to 
his  ear.  The  porter  then  gave  Dickie  a  warm  caress,  and  set 
him  on  the  ground  with  the  same  care  which  a  careful  house- 
wife uses  in  replacing  a  cracked  china  cup  upon  her  mantel- 
piece, calling  out  at  the  same  time  to  Wayland  and  the  lady, 
"  In  with  you — in  with  you  j  and  take  heed  how  you  come  too 
late  another  day  when  I  chance  to  be  poiter." 

"Ay — ay,  in  with  you,"  added  Flibbertigibbet;  "I  must 
stay  a  short  space  with  mine  honest  Philistine,  my  Goliath  of 
Gath  here;  but  I  wiU  be  with  you  anon,  and  at  the  bottom 
of  all  your  secrets,  were  they  as  deep  and  dai-k  as  the  castle 
dungeon." 

"I  do  believe  thou  wouldst,"  said  Wayland;  "but  I  trust 
the  secret  will  be  soon  out  of  my  keeping,  and  then  I  shall 
care  the  less  whether  thou  or  any  one  knows  it." 

They  now  crossed  the  entrance  tower,  which  obtained  the 


342  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

name  of  the  Gallery  Tower  from  the  following  circumstance : 
The  whole  bridge,  extending  from  the  entrance  to  another  tower 
on  the  opposite  side  of  the  lake,  called  Mortimer's  Tower, 
was  so  disposed  as  to  make  a  spacious  tilt-yard,  about  one 
hundred  and  thirty  yards  in  length  and  ten  in  breadth,  strewed 
"with  the  finest  sand,  and  defended  on  either  side  by  strong 
and  high  palisades.  The  broad  and  fair  gallery,  destined  for 
the  ladies  who  were  to  witness  the  feats  of  chivalry  presented 
•on  this  area,  was  erected  on  the  northern  side  of  the  outer 
tower  to  which  it  gave  name.  Our  travellers  passed  slowly 
along  the  bridge  or  tilt-yard,  and  arrived  at  Mortimer's  Tower, 
at  its  farthest  extremity,  through  which  the  approach  led  into 
the  outer  or  base  court  of  the  castle.  Mortimer's  Tower  bore 
on  its  front  the  scutcheon  of  the  Earl  of  March,  whose  daring 
ambition  overthrew  the  throne  of  Edward  II.,  and  aspired  to 
share  his  power  with  the  *'  She- wolf  of  France,"  to  whom  the 
unhappy  monarch  was  wedded.  The  gate  which  opened  under 
this  ominous  memorial  was  guarded  by  many  warders  in  rich 
liveries ;  but  they  offered  no  opposition  to  the  entrance  of  the 
countess  and  her  guide,  who,  having  passed  by  license  of  the 
principal  porter  at  the  Gallery  Tower,  were  not,  it  may  be 
supposed,  liable  to  interruption  from  his  deputies.  They  en- 
tered accordingly,  in  silence,  the  great  outward  court  of  the 
castle,  having  then  full  before  them  that  vast  and  lordly  pile, 
with  all  its  stately  towers,  each  gate  open,  as  if  in  sign  of 
unlimited  hospitality,  and  the  apartments  filled  with  noble 
guests  of  every  degree,  besides  dependants,  retainers,  domes- 
tics of  every  description,  and  all  the  appendages  and  pro- 
moters of  mirth  and  revelry. 

Amid  this  stately  and  busy  scene,  Wayland  halted  his 
liorse,  and  looked  upon  the  lady,  as  if  waiting  her  commands 
what  was  next  to  be  done,  since  they  had  safely  reached  the 
place  of  destination.  As  she  remained  silent,  Wayland,  after 
waiting  a  minute  or  two,  ventured  to  ask  her,  in  direct  terms, 
what  were  her  next  commands.  She  raised  her  hand  to  her 
forehead,  as  if  in  the  act  of  collecting  her  thoughts  and  reso- 
lutions, while  she  answered  him  in  a  low  and  suppressed 
"voice,  like   the   murmurs   of  one  who   speaks   in    a   dream. 


KENILWORTH.  343 

"Commands!     I   may   indeed  claim  right  to   command,   but 
who  is  there  will  obey  me?" 

Then  suddenly  raising  her  head,  like  one  who  has  formed 
a  decisive  resolution,  she  addressed  a  gaily  dressed  domestic, 
who  was  crossing  the  court  with  importance  and  bustle  in  his 
countenance.  "Stop,  sir,"  she  said,  "I  desire  to  speak  with 
the  Earl  of  Leicester." 

"With  whom,  an  it  please  you?"  said  the  man,  surprised, 
at  the  demand;  and  then  looking  upon  the  mean  equipage  of 
her  who  used  towards  him  such  a  tone  of  authority,  he  added, 
with  insolence,  "Why,  what  Bess  of  Bedlam  is  this,  would 
ask  to  see  my  lord  on  such  a  day  as  the  present?" 

"  Friend, "  said  the  countess,  "  be  not  insolent ;  my  business 
with  the  earl  is  most  urgent." 

"You  must  get  some  one  else  to  do  it,  were  it  thrice  as 
urgent, "  said  the  fellow.  "  1  should  summon  my  lord  from 
the  Queen's  royal  presence  to  do  your  business,  should  I?  I 
were  like  to  be  thanked  with  a  horsewhip.  I  marvel  our  old 
porter  took  not  measure  of  such  ware  with  his  club,  instead  of 
giving  them  passage;  but  his  brain  is  addled  with  getting 
his  speech  by  heart." 

Two  or  three  persons  stopped,  attracted  by  the  fleering  way 
in  which  the  serving-man  expressed  himself;  and  Wayland, 
alarmed  both  for  himself  and  the  lady,  hastily  addressed 
himself  to  one  who  appeared  the  most  civil,  and  thrusting  a 
piece  of  money  into  his  hand,  held  a  moment's  counsel  with 
him  on  the  subject  of  finding  a  place  of  temporary  retreat  for 
the  lady.  The  person  to  whom  he  spoke,  being  one  in  some 
authority,  rebuked  the  others  for  their  incivility,  and  com- 
manding one  fellow  to  take  care  of  the  stranger's  horses,  he 
desired  them  to  follow  him.  The  countess  retained  presence 
of  mind  sufficient  to  see  that  it  was  absolutely  necessary  she 
should  comply  with  his  request ;  and,  leaving  the  rude  lackeys 
and  grooms  to  crack  their  brutal  jesrs  about  liglit  heads,  light 
heels,  and  so  forth,  Wayland  and  she  followed  in  silence  the 
deputy-usher,  who  undertook  to  be  their  conductor. 

They  entered  the  inner  court  of  the  castle  by  the  great  gate- 
way, which  extended  betwixt  the  principal  keep,  or  donjon. 


344  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

called  Caesar's  Tower,  and  a  stately  building  which  passed  by 
the  name  of  King  Henry's  Lodging,  and  were  thus  placed  in 
the  centre  of  the  noble  pile,  which  presented  on  its  different 
fronts  magnificent  specimens  of  every  species  of  castellated 
architecture,  from  the  Conquest  to  the  reign  of  Elizabeth,  with 
the  appropriate  style  and  ornaments  of  each. 

Across  this  inner  court  also  they  were  condiicted  by  their 
guide  to  a  small  but  strong  tower,  occupying  the  northeast 
angle  of  the  building  adjacent  to  the  great  hall,  and  filling  up 
a  space  betAvixt  the  immense  range  of  kitchens  and  the  end  of 
the  great  hall  itself.  The  lower  part  of  this  tower  was  occu- 
pied by  some  of  the  household  officers  of  Leicester,  owing  to 
its  convenient  vicinity  to  the  places  where  their  duty  lay ;  but 
in  the  upper  story,  which  was,  reached  by  a  narrow  winding 
stair,  was  a  small  octangular  chamber,  which,  in  the  great  de- 
mand for  lodgings,  had  been  on  the  present  occasion  fitted  up 
for  the  reception  of  guests,  though  generally  said  to  have  been 
used  as  a  place  of  confinement  for  some  unhappy  person  who 
had  been  there  murdered.  Tradition  called  this  prisoner 
Mervyn,  and  transferred  his  name  to  the  tower.  That  it  had 
been  used  as  a  prison  was  not  improbable;  for  the  floor  of 
each  story  was  arched,  the  walls  of  tremendous  thickness,  while 
the  space  of  the  chamber  did  not  exceed  fifteen  feet  in  diame- 
ter. The  window,  however,  was  pleasant,  though  narrow, 
and  commanded  a  delightful  vicAV  of  what  was  called  the  Pleas- 
ance — a  space  of  ground  inclosed  and  decorated  with  arches, 
trophies,  statues,  fountains,  and  other  architectural  monu- 
ments, which  formed  one  access  from  the  castle  itself  into  the 
garden.  There  was  a  bed  in  the  apartment,  and  other  prepa- 
rations for  the  reception  of  a  guest,  to  which  the  countess  paid 
but  slight  attention,  her  notice  being  instantly  arrested  by  the 
sight  of  writing-materials,  placed  on  the  table  (not  very  com- 
monly to  be  found  in  the  bedrooms  of  those  days),  which  in- 
stantly suggested  the  idea  of  writing  to  Leicester,  and  remain- 
ing private  until  she  had  received  his  answer. 

The  deputy-usher,  having  introduced  them  into  this  com- 
modious apartment,  courteously  asked  Wayland,  whose  gen. 
erosity  he  had  experienced,  whether  he  could  do  anything  f ai:- 


KENILWORTH.  345 

ther  for  his  service.  Upon  receiving  a  gentle  hint  that  some 
refreshment  would  not  be  nnacce]Dtable,  he  presently  conveyed 
the  smith  to  the  buttery-hatch,  where  dressed  provisions  of  all 
sorts  were  distributed,  with  hospitable  profusion,  to  all  who 
asked  for  them.  Way  land  was  readily  supplied  with  some 
light  provisions,  such  as  he  thought  would  best  suit  the  faded 
appetite  of  the  lady,  and  did  not  omit  the  opportunity  of  him- 
self making  a  hasty  but  hearty  meal  on  more  substantial  fare. 
He  then  returned  to  the  apartment  m  the  turret,  where  he 
found  the  countess,  who  had  finished  her  letter  to  Leicester  j 
and,  in  lieu  of  a  seal  and  silken  thread,  had  secured  it  with  a 
braid  of  her  own  beautiful  tresses,  fastened  by  what  is  called 
a  true-love  knot, 

"Good  friend,"  said  she  to  Wayland,  "whom  God  hath 
sent  to  aid  me  at  my  utmost  need,  I  do  beseech  thee,  as  the 
last  trouble  you  shall  take  for  an  unfortunate  lady,  to  deliver 
this  letter  to  the  noble  Earl  of  Leicester.  Be  it  received  as  it 
may,"  she  said,  with  features  agitated  betwixt  hope  and  fear, 
"thou,  good  fellow,  shalt  have  no  naore  cumber  with  me. 
But  I  hope  the  best ;  and  if  ever  lady  made  a  poor  man  rich, 
thou  hast  surely  deserved  it  at  my  hand,  should  my  happy 
days  ever  come  round  again.  Give  it,  I  pray  you,  uito  Lord 
Leicester's  own  hand,  and  mark  how  he  looks  on  receiving  it." 

Wayland,  on  his  j)art,  readily  undertook  the  commission, 
but  anxiously  prayed  the  lady,  in  his  turn,  to  partake  of  some 
refreshment;  in  which  he  at  length  prevailed,  more  through 
importunity,  and  her  desire  to  see  him  begone  on  his  errand, 
than  from  any  inclination  the  countess  felt  to  comply  with  his 
request.  He  then  left  her,  advising  her  to  lock  her  door  on 
the  inside,  and  not  to  stir  from  her  little  apartment,  and  went 
to  seek  an  opportunity  of  discharging  her  errand,  as  well  as  of 
carrying  into  effect  a  purpose  of  his  own  which  ciwumstances 
had  induced  him  to  form. 

In  fact,  from  the  conduct  of  the  lady  during  the  journey, 
her  long  fits  of  profound  silence,  the  irresolution  and  uncer- 
tainty which  appeared  to  pervade  all  her  movements,  and  the 
obvious  incapacity  of  thinking  and  acting  for  herself,  under 
which  she  seemed  to  labour^  Wayland  had  formed  the  not  im* 


346  WAVERLET  NOVELS. 

probable  opinion  that  the  difficulties  of  her  situation  had  in 
some  degree  affected  her  understanding. 

When  she  had  escaped  from  the  seclusion  of  Cuinnor  Place, 
and  the  dangers  to  which  she  was  there  exposed,  it  would 
have  seemed  her  most  rational  course  to  retire  to  her  father's 
or  elsewhere,  at  a  distance  from  the  power  of  those  by  whom 
these  dangers  had  been  created.  When,  instead  of  doing  so, 
she  demanded  to  be  conveyed  to  Kenilworth,  Wayland  had 
been  only  able  to  account  for  her  conduct,  by  supposing  that 
she  meant  to  put  herself  under  the  tutelage  of  Tressilian,  and 
to  appeal  to  the  protection  of  the  Queen.  But  now,  instead  of 
following  this  natural  course,  she  entrusted  him  with  a  letter 
to  Leicester,  the  patron  of  Varney,  and  within  whose  jurisdic* 
tion  at  least,  if  not  under  his  express  authority,  all  the  evils 
she  had  already  suffered  were  inflicted  upon  her.  This  seemed 
an  unsafe,  and  even  a  desperate,  measure,  and  Wayland  felt 
anxiety  for  his  own  safety,  as  well  as  that  of  the  lady,  should 
he  execute  her  commission  before  he  had  secured  the  advice 
and  countenance  of  a  protector.  He  therefore  resolved,  before 
delivering  the  letter  to  Leicester,  that  he  would  seek  out  Tres- 
silian, and  communicate  to  him  the  arrival  of  the  lady  at  Ken- 
ilworth, and  thus  at  once  rid  himseK  of  all  farther  responsibil- 
ity and  devolve  the  task  of  guiding  and  protecting  this  unfor- 
tunate lady  upon  the  patron  who  had  at  first  employed  him  in 
her  service. 

"He  will  be  a  better  judge  than  I  am,"  said  Wayland, 
*'  whether  she  is  to  be  gratified  in  this  humour  of  appeal  to  my 
Lord  of  Leicester,  which  seems  like  an  act  of  insanity ;  and, 
therefore,  I  will  turn  the  matter  over  on  his  hands,  deliver 
him  the  letter,  receive  what  they  list  to  give  me  by  way  of 
guerdon,  and  then  show  the  Castle  of  Kenilworth  a  pair  of 
light  heels ;  for,  after  the  work  I  have  been  engaged  in,  it  will 
be,  I  fear,  neither  a  safe  nor  wholesome  place  of  residence; 
and  I  would  rather  shoe  colts  on  the  coldest  common  in  Eng- 
land than  share  in  their  gayest  revels." 


KENILWORTH.  34T 


CHAPTER   XXVII. 

In  my  time  I  have  seen  a  boy  do  wondersr 
Robin,  the  red  tinker,  had  a  boy 
Would  ha'  run  through  a  cat-hole. 

The  Coxcoirib. 

Ami©  the  universal  bustle  which  filled  the  castle  and  its 
environs,"  it  was  no  easy  matter  to  find  out  any  individual; 
and  Wayland  was  still  less  likely  to  light  upon  Tressilian, 
whom  he  sought  so  anxiously,  because,  sensible  of  the  danger 
of  attracting  attention,  in  the  circumstances  in  which  he  was 
placed,  he  dared  not  make  general  inquiries  among  the  re- 
tainers or  domestics  of  Leicester.  He  learned,  however,  by 
indirect  questions,  that,  in  all  probability,  Tressilian  must 
have  been  one  of  a  large  party  of  gentlemen  in  attendance  on 
the  Earl  of  Sussex,  who  had  accompanied  their  patron  that 
morning  to  Kenilworth,  when  Leicester  had  received  them  with 
marks  of  the  most  formal  respect  and  distinction.  He  farther 
learned  that  both  earls,  with  their  followers,  and  many  other 
nobles,  knights,  and  gentlemen,  had  taken  horse,  and  gone 
towards  Warwick  several  hours  since,  for  the  purpose  of  es- 
corting the  Queen  to  Kenilworth. 

Her  Majesty's  arrival,  like  other  great  events,  was  delayed 
from  hour  to  hour ;  and  it  was  now  announced  by  a  breathless 
post  that,  her  Majesty  being  detained  by  her  gracious  desire 
to  receive  the  homage  of  her  lieges  who  had  thronged  to  wait 
upon  her  at  Warwick,  it  would  be  the  hour  of  twilight  ere  she 
entered  the  castle.  The  intelligence  released  for  a  time  those 
who  were  upon  duty  in  the  immediate  expectation  of  the 
Queen's  appearance,  and  ready  to  play  their  part  in  the  solem- 
nities with  which  it  was  to  be  accompanied ;  and  "Wayland^ 
seeing  several  horsemen  enter  the  castle,  was  not  without  hopes 
that  Tressilian  might  be  of  the  number.  That  he  might  not 
lose  an  opportunity  of  meeting  his  patron  in  the  event  of  this 
being  the  case,  Wayland  placed  himself  in  the  base-court  of 
the  castle,  near  Mortimer's  Tower,  and  watched  every  one 


S48  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

who  weuu  or  came  by  the  bridge,  tlie  extremity  of  which  was 
protected  by  that  building.  Thus  stationed,  nobody  could 
enter  or  leave  the  castle  without  his  observation,  and  most 
anxiously  did  he  study  the  garb  and  countenance  of  every 
horseman,  as,  passing  from  under  the  opposite  Gallery  Tower, 
they  paced  slowly,  or  curvetted,  along  the  tilt-yard,  and  ap- 
proached the  entrance  of  the  base-court. 

But  while  Wayland  gazed  thus  eagerly  to  discover  him 
whom  he  saw  not,  he  was  pulled  by  the  sleeve  by  one  by 
whom  he  himself  would  not  willingly  have  been  seen. 

This  was  Dickie  Sludge,  or  Flibbertigibbet,  who,  like  the 
imp  whose  name  he  bore,  and  whom  he  had  been  accoutred  in 
order  to  resemble,  seemed  to  be  ever  at  the  ear  of  those  who 
thought  least  of  him.  Whatever  were  Wayland' s  internal 
feelings,  he  judged  it  necessary  to  express  pleasure  at  their 
unexpected  meeting. 

"Ha?  is  it  thou,  my  minikin — my  miller's  thumb — my 
prince  of  cacodemoois — my  little  mouse?" 

"  Ay, "  said  Dickie,  "  the  mouse  which  gnawed  asunder  the 
toils,  just  when  the  lion  who  was  caught  in  them  began  to  look 
wonderfully  like  an  ass." 

"  Why,  thou  little  hop-the-gutter,  thou  art  as  sharp  as  vine- 
gar this  afternoon!  But  tell  me,  how  didst  thou  come  off 
with  yonder  jolter-headed  giant,  whom  I  left  thee  with?  I 
was  afraid  he  would  have  stripped  thy  clothes,  and  so  swal- 
lowed thee,  as  men  peel  and  eat  a  roasted  chestnut." 

"Had  he  done  so,"  replied  the  boy,  "he  would  have  had 
more  brains  in  his  guts  than  ever  he  had  in  his  noddle.  But 
the  giant  is  a  courteous  monster,  and  more  grateful  than  many 
other  folk  whom  I  have  helped  at  a  pinch.  Master  Wayland 
Smith." 

"Beshrew  me,  Flibbertigibbet,"  replied  Wayland,  "but 
thou  art  sharper  than  a  Sheffield  whittle !  I  would  I  knew  by 
what  charm  you  muzzled  yonder  old  bear." 

"  Ay,  that  is  in  your  own  manner, "  answered  Dickie :  "  you 
think  fine  speeches  will  pass  muster  instead  of  good- will. 
However,  as  to  this  honest  porter,  you  must  know  that,  when 
we  presented   ourselves   at  the  gate  yonder,  his  brain  was 


KENILWORTH.  349 

overburdened  with  a  speecli  that  had  been  penned  for  him, 
and  which  proved  rather  an  overmatch  for  his  gigantic  facul- 
ties. Now  this  same  pithy  oration  had  been  indited,  like 
sundry  others,  by  my  learned  magister,  Erasmus  Holiday,  so 
I  had  heard  it  often  enough  to  remember  every  line.  As  soon 
as  I  heard  him  blundering  and  floimdering,  like  a  fish  upon 
dry  land,  through  the  first  verse,  and  perceived  him  at  a 
stand,  I  knew  where  the  shoe  pinched,  and  helped  him  to  the 
next  word,  when  he  caught  me  up  in  an  ecstasy,  even  as  you 
saw  but  now.  I  promised,  as  the  price  of  your  admission,  to 
hide  me  under  his  bearish  gaberdine  and  prompt  him  in  the 
hour  of  need.  I  have  just  now  been  getting  some  food  in  the 
castle,  and  am  about  to  return  to  him." 

"  That's  right — that's  right,  my  dear  Dickie,"  replied  Way- 
land  ;  "  haste  thee,  for  Heaven's  sake !  else  the  poor  giant  will 
be  utterly  disconsolate  for  want  of  his  dwarfish  auxiliai-y. 
Away  with  thee,  Dickie!" 

"Ay — ay!"  answered  the  boy.  "Away  with  Dickie,  when 
tve  have  got  what  good  of  him  we  can.  You  will  not  let  me 
know  the  story  of  this  lady,  then,  who  is  as  much  sister  of 
thine  as  I  am?" 

"  Why,  what  good  would  it  do  thee,  thou  silly  elf?"  said 
Wayland. 

"Oh,  stand  ye  on  these  terms?"  said  the  boy.  "Well,  I 
care  not  greatly  about  the  matter ;  only,  I  never  smell  out  a 
Beci-et,  but  I  try  to  be  either  at  the  right  or  the  wrong  end  of 
it,  and  so  good  evening  to  ye." 

"oSTay,  but,  Dickie,"  said  Wayland,  who  knew  the  boy's 
restless  and  intriguing  disposition  too  well  not  to  fear  his 
enmity — "  stay,  my  dear  Dickie ;  part  not  with  old  friends  so 
shortly !     Thou  shalt  know  all  I  know  of  the  lady  one  day. " 

"Ay!"  said  Dickie;  "and  that  day  may  prove  a  nigh  one. 
Fare  thee  well,  Wayland ;  I  will  to  my  large-limbed  friend, 
who,  if  he  have  not  so  sharp  a  wit  as  some  folk,  is  at  least 
more  grateful  for  the  service  which  other  folk  render  him. 
And  so  again,  good  evening  to  ye. " 

So  saying,  he  cast  a  somerset  through  the  gateway,  and, 
lighting  on  the  bridge,  ran,  with  the  extraordinaiy  agility 


350  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

which  was  one  of  his  distinguishing  attributes,  towards  the 
Gallery  Tower,  and  was  out  of  sight  in  an  instant. 

"I  would  to  God  I  were  safe  out  of  this  castle  again!'' 
prayed  Wayland,  internally ;  "  for  now  that  this  mischievous 
imp  has  put  his  finger  m  the  pie,  it  cannot  but  prove  a  mess 
fit  for  the  devil's  eating.  I  would  to  Heaven  Master  Tres- 
silian  would  appear!" 

Tressilian,  whom  he  was  thus  anxiously  expecting  in  one 
direction,  had  returned  to  Kenilworth  by  another  access.  It 
was  indeed  true,  as  Way  land  had  conjectured,  that,  in  the 
eaiiier  part  of  the  day,  he  had  accompanied  the  earls  on  their 
cavalcade  towards  Warwick,  not  without  hope  that  he  might 
in  that  town  hear  some  tidings  of  his  emissary.  Being  disap- 
pointed in  this  expectation,  and  observing  Varney  amongst 
Leicester's  attendants,  seeming  as  if  he  had  some  purpose  of 
advancing  to  and  addressing  him,  he  conceived,  in  the  present 
circumstances,  it  was  wisest  to  avoid  the  interview.  He  there- 
fore left  the  presence-chamber  when  the  high-sheriff  of  the 
county  was  in  the  very  midst  of  his  dutiful  address  to  her 
Majesty;  and,  mounting  his  horse,  rode  back  to  Kenilworth 
by  a  remote  and  circuitous  road,  and  entered  the  castle  by  a 
small  sally-port  in  the  western  wall,  at  which  he  was  readily 
admitted  as  one  of  the  followers  of  the  Earl  of  Sussex,  towards 
whom  Leicester  had  commanded  the  utmost  courtesy  to  be 
exercised.  It  was  thus  that  he  met  not  Wayland,  who  was 
impatiently  watching  his  arrival,  and  whom  he  himself  would 
have  been,  at  least,  equally  desirous  to  see. 

Having  delivered  his  horse  to  the  charge  of  his  attendant, 
he  walked  for  a  space  in  the  Pleasance  and  in  the  garden, 
rather  to  indulge  in  comparative  solitude  his  own  reflections 
than  to  admire  those  singular  beauties  of  nature  and  art  which 
the  magnificence  of  Leicester  had  there  assembled.  The 
greater  part  of  the  persons  of  condition  had  left  the  castle  for 
the  present,  to  form  part  of  the  earl's  cavalcade;  others,  who 
remained  behind,  were  on  the  battlements,  outer  walls,  and 
towers,  eager  to  view  the  splendid  spectacle  of  the  royal  entry. 
The  garden,   therefore,  while  every  other  part  of  the  castle 


KENILWORTH.  351 

Tesounded  with  tlie  human  voice,  was  silent,  but  for  the  whis- 
pering of  the  leaves,  the  emulous  warbling  of  the  tenants  of  a 
large  aviary,  with  their  happier  companions  who  remained 
denziens  of  the  free  air,  and  the  plashing  of  the  fountains 
which,  forced  into  the  air  from  sculptures  of  fantastic  and 
grotesque  forms,  fell  doAvn  with  ceaseless  sound  into  the  great 
basins  of  Italian  marble. 

The  melancholy  thoughts  of  Tressilian  cast  a  gloomy  shade 
■on  all  the  objects  with  which  he  was  surrounded.  He  com- 
pared the  magnificent  scenes  which  he  here  traversed  with  the 
deep  woodland  and  wild  moorland  which  surrounded  Lidcote 
Hall,  and  the  image  of  Amy  Eobsart  glided  like  a  phantom 
through  every  landscape  which  his  imagination  summoned 
up.  Nothing  is  perhaps  more  dangerous  to  the  future  happi- 
ness of  men  of  deep  thought  and  retired  habits  than  the  en- 
tertaining an  early,  long,  and  unfortunate  attachment.  It 
frequently  sinks  so  deep  into  the  mind  that  it  becomes  theia 
dream  by  night  and  their  vision  by  day,  mixes  itself  with, 
every  source  of  interest  and  enjoyment;  and,  when  blighted 
and  withered  by  final  disappointment,  it  seems  as  if  thci 
springs  of  the  spirit  were  dried  up  along  with  it.  This  ach- 
ing of  the  heart,  this  languishing  after  a  shadow  which  has; 
lost  all  the  gaiety  of  its  colouring,  this  dwelling  on  the  re- 
membrance of  a  dream  from  which  we  have  been  long  roughly 
awakened,  is  the  weakness  of  a  gentle  and  generous  heart,, 
and  it  was  that  of  Tressilian. 

He  himself  at  length  became  sensible  of  the  necessity  of 
forcing  other  objects  upon  his  mind;  and  for  this  purpose  he 
left  the  Pleasance,  in  order  to  mingle  with  the  noisy  crowd 
upon  the  walls,  and  view  the  preparation  for  the  pageants. 
But  as  he  left  the  garden,  and  heard  the  busy  hum,  mixed 
with  music  and  laughter,  which  floated  aroimd  him,  he  felt  aii 
uncontrollable  reluctance  t  ■  mix  with  society  whose  feelings 
were  in  a  tone  so  different  from  his  own,  and  resolved,  instead 
of  doing  so,  to  retire  to  the  chamber  assigned  him,  and  employ 
himself  in  study  until  the  tolling  of  the  great  castle  bell  should 
announce  the  arrival  of  Elizabeth. 

Tressilian  crossed  accordingly  by  the  passage  betwixt  the 


352  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

immense  range  of  kitcliens  and  the  great  hall,  and  ascended  to 
the  third  story  of  Mervyn's  Tower,  and  applying  himself  to 
the  door  of  the  small  apartment  which  had  been  allotted  to 
him,  was  surprised  to  find  it  was  locked.  He  then  recollected 
that  the  deputy-chamberlain  had  given  him  a  master-key,  ad- 
vising him,  in  the  present  confused  state  of  the  castle,  to  keep 
his  door  as  mvich  shut  as  possible.  He  applied  this  key  to  the 
lock,  the  bolt  revolved,  he  entered,  and  in  the  same  instant 
saw  a  female  form  seated  in  the  apartment,  and  recognised 
that  form  to  be  Amy  Eobsart.  His  first  idea  was,  that  a 
heated  imagination  had  raised  the  image  on  which  it  doted 
into  visible  existence ;  his  second,  that  he  beheld  an  appari- 
tion ;  the  third  and  abiding  conviction,  that  it  was  Amy  her- 
self, paler,  indeed,  and  thinner  than  in  the  days  of  heedless 
happiness,  when  she  possessed  the  form  and  hue  of  a  wood- 
nymph,  with  the  beauty  of  a  sylph;  but  still  Amy,  unequalled 
in  loveliness  by  aught  which  had  ever  visited  his  eyes. 

The  astonishment  of  the  countess  was  scarce  less  than  that 
of  Tressdian,  although  it  was  of  shorter  duration,  because  she 
had  heard  from  Wayland  that  he  was  in  the  castle.  She  had 
started  up  at  his  first  entrance,  and  now  stood  facing  him,  the 
paleness  of  her  cheeks  having  given  way  to  a  deep  blush. 

" Tressilian, "  she  said,  at  length,  "why  come  you  here?" 

"  Nay,  why  come  you  here.  Amy, "  returned  Tressilian,  "  un- 
less it  be  at  length  to  claim  that  aid  which,  as  far  as  one 
man's  heart  and  arm  can  extend,  shall  instantly  be  rendered 
to  you?" 

She  was  silent  a  moment,  and  then  answered  in  a  sorrowful 
rather  than  an  angry  tone :  "  I  require  no  aid,  TressUian,  and 
would  rather  be  injured  than  benefited  by  any  which  your 
kindness  can  offer  me.  Believe  me,  I  am  near  one  whom  law 
and  love  oblige  to  protect  me." 

"  The  villain,  then,  hath  done  you  the  poor  justice  which 
remained  in  his  power,"  said  Tressilian;  "  and  I  behold  before 
me  the  wife  of  Varney?" 

"The  wife  of  Varney!"  she  replied,  with  all  the  emphasis 
of  scorn.  "With  what  base  name,  sir,  does  your  boldness 
stigmatise  the — ^the — the "      She  hesitated,  dropped  her 


KENILWORTH.  353 

tone  of  scorn,  looked  down,  and  was  confused  and  silent;  for 
she  recollected  what  fatal  consequences  might  attend  her  com- 
pleting the  sentence  with  "  the  Countess  of  Leicester, "  which 
were  the  words  that  had  naturally  suggested  themselves.  It 
would  have  been  a  betrayal  of  the  secret,  on  which  her  hus- 
band had  assured  her  that  his  fortunes  depended,  to  Tressilian, 
to  Sussex,  to  the  Queen,  and  to  the  whole  assembled  court. 
"  Never, "  she  thought,  "  will  I  break  my  promised  silence.  I 
will  submit  to  every  suspicion  rather  than  that." 

The  tears  rose  to  her  eyes  as  she  stood  silent  before  Tres- 
silian ;  while,  looking  on  her  with  mingled  grief  and  pity,  he 
said,  "Alas!  Amy,  your  eyes  contradict  your  tongue.  That 
speaks  of  a  protector,  willing  and  able  to  watch  over  you ;  but 
these  tell  me  you  are  ruined,  and  deserted  by  the  wretch  to 
whom  you  have  attached  yourself. " 

She  looked  on  him,  with  eyes  in  which  anger  sparkled 
through  her  tears,  but  only  repeated  the  word  "wretch!"  with 
a  scornful  emphasis. 

"  Yes,  7vretch/"  said  Tressilian ;  "  for  were  he  aught  better, 
why  are  you  here,  and  alone  in  my  apartment?  Why  was  not 
fitting  provision  made  for  your  honourable  reception?" 

"In  your  apartment?"  repeated  Amy — "in  youi'  apartment? 
It  shall  instantly  be  relieved  of  my  presence."  She  hastened 
towards  the  door ;  but  the  sad  recollection  of  her  deserted  state 
at  once  pressed  on  her  mind,  and,  pausing  on  the  threshold, 
she  added,  in  a  tone  unutterably  pathetic,  "  Alas !  I  had  for- 
got ;  I  know  not  where  to  go " 

"  I  see — I  see  it  all, "  said  Tressilian,  springing  to  her  side, 
and  leading  her  back  to  the  seat,  on  which  she  sunk  down. 
"  You  do  need  aid — you  do  need  protection,  though  you  will 
not  own  it ;  and  you  shall  not  need  it  long.  Leaning  on  my 
arm,  as  the  representative  of  your  excellent  and  broken-hearted 
father,  on  the  very  threshold  of  the  castle  gate,  you  shall 
meet  Elizabeth ;  and  the  first  deed  she  shall  do  in  the  halls 
of  Kenil worth  shall  be  an  act  of  justice  to  her  sex  and  her 
subjects.  Strong  in  my  good  cause  and  in  the  Queen's  justice, 
the  power  of  her  minion  shall  not  shake  my  resolution.  I  will 
instantly  seek  Sussex." 
23 


354  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

"Xot  for  all  that  is  imder  heaven!"  said  the  countess,  much 
alarmed,  and  feeling  the  absolute  necessity  of  obtaining  time, 
at  least,  for  consideration.  "  Tressilian,  you  were  wont  to  be 
generous.  Grant  me  one  request,  and  believe,  if  it  be  your 
wish  to  save  me  from  misery  and  from  madness,  you  will  do 
more  by  making  me  the  promise  I  ask  of  you  than  Elizabeth 
can  do  for  me  with  all  her  power !  " 

"  Ask  me  anything  for  which  you  can  allege  reason, "  said 
Tressilian ;  "  but  demand  not  of  me " 

"Oh,  limit  not  your  boon,  dear  Edmund!"  exclaimed  the 
coimtess, — "you  once  loved  that  I  should  call  you  so, — limit 
uot  your  boon  to  reason!  for  my  case  is  all  madness,  and 
frenzy  must  guide  the  counsels  which  alone  can  aid  me.  *' 

"  If  you  speak  thus  wildly, "  said  Tressilian,  astonishment 
again  overpowering  both  his  grief  and  his  resolution,  "  I  must 
believe  you  indeed  incapable  of  thinking  or  acting  for  yourself. " 

"Oh  no!"  she  exclaimed,  sinking  on  one  knee  before  him, 
"  I  am  not  mad.  I  am  but  a  creature  unutterably  miserable, 
and,  from  circumstances  the  most  singular,  dragged  on  to  a 
precipice  by  the  arm  of  him  who  thinks  he  is  keeping  me  from 
it — even  by  yours,  Tressilian — by  yours,  whom  I  have  hon- 
oured, respected,  all  but  loved — and  yet  loved,  too — loved, 
too,  Tressilian,  though  not  as  you  wished  me." 

There  was  an  energy — a  self-possession — an  abandonment  in 
her  voice  and  manner — a  total  resignation  of  herself  to  his 
generosity,  which,  together  with  the  kindness  of  her  expres- 
sions to  himself,  moved  him  deeply.  He  raised  her,  and  in 
broken  accents  entreated  her  to  be  comforted. 

"I  cannot,"  she  said,  "I  will  not  be  comforted  till  you 
grant  me  my  request!  I  will  speak  as  plainly  as  I  dare.  I 
am  now  awaiting  the  commands  of  one  who  has  a  right  to 
issue  them.  The  interference  of  a  third  person — of  you  in 
especial,  Tressilian — will  be  ruin — utter  ruin  to  me.  Wait 
but  four-and-twenty  hours,  and  it  may  be  that  the  poor  Amy 
may  have  the  means  to  show  that  she  values,  and  can  reward, 
your  disinterested  friendship — that  she  is  happy  herseK,  and 
has  the  means  to  make  you  so.  It  is  surely  worth  your  pa- 
tience, for  so  short  a  space?" 


EENILWORTE.  355 

Tressilian  paused,  and  weighing  in  his  mind  the  various 
probabilities  which  might  render  a  violent  interference  on  his 
part  more  prejudicial  than  advantageous,  both  to  the  happiness 
aad  reputation  of  Amy ;  considering  also  that  she  was  within 
the  walls  of  Kenilworth,  and  could  suffer  no  injury  in  a  castle 
honoured  with  the  Queen's  residence,  and  filled  with  her 
guards  and  attendants,  he  conceived,  upon  the  whole,  that  he 
might  render  her  more  evil  than  good  service  by  intruding 
upon  her  his  appeal  to  Elizabeth  in  her  behalf.  He  expressed 
his  resolution  cautiously,  however,  doubting  naturally  whether 
Amy's  hopes  of  extricating  herself  from  her  difficulties  rested 
on  anji;hing  stronger  than  a  blinded  attachment  to  Varney, 
whom  he  supposed  to  be  her  seducer. 

"Amy,"  he  said,  while  he  fixed  his  sad  and  expressive  eyes 
on  hers,  which,  in  her  ecstasy  of  doubt,  terror,  and  perplexity, 
she  cast  up  towards  him,  "  I  have  ever  remarked  that,  when 
others  called  thee  girlish  and  wilful,  there  lay  imder  that  ex- 
ternal semblance  of  youthful  and  self --willed  folly  deep  feeling 
and  strong  sense.  In  this  I  will  confide,  trusting  your  o^vu 
fate  in  your  own  hands  for  the  space  of  twenty -four  hours, 
without  my  interference  by  word  or  act." 

"Do  you  promise  me  this,  Tressilian?"  said  the  countess. 
"  Is  it  possible  you  can  yet  repose  so  much  confidence  in  me? 
Do  j'Ou  promise,  as  you  are  a  gentleman  and  a  man  of  honour, 
to  intrude  in  my  matters  neither  by  speech  nor  action,  what- 
ever you  may  see  or  hear  that  seems  to  you  to  demand  your 
interference?     WiU  you  so  far  trust  me?" 

"  I  wiU,  upon  my  honour, "  said  Tressilian ;  "  but  when  that 
space  is  expired " 

"  When  that  space  is  expired, "  she  said,  interrupting  him, 
"you  ai-e  free  to  act  as  your  judgment  shall  determine." 

"Is  there  nought  besides  which  I  can  do  for  you.  Amy?" 
said  Tressilian. 

.  "Nothing,"  said  she,  "save  to  leave  me;  that  is,  if — I 
blush  to  acknowledge  my  helplessness  by  asking  it — if  you 
can  spare  me  the  use  of  this  apartment  for  the  next,  twenty- 
four  hours." 

"This  is  most  wonderful!"  said  Tressilian;  "what  hope  or 


356  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

interest  can  you  liave  in  a  castle  where  you  cannot  command 
even  an  apartment?" 

"Argue  not,  but  leave  me,"  she  said;  and  added,  as  he 
slowly  and  unwillingly  retired,  "  Generous  Edmund !  the  time 
may  come  when  Amy  may  show  she  deserved  thy  noble  attach- 
ment." 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

.  What,  man,  ne'er  lack  a  draught,  when  the  full  can 

Stands  at  thine  elbow,  and  craves  emptying ! 

■  Nay,  fear  not  me,  for  I  have  no  delight 

'  To  watch  men's  vices,  since  I  have  myself 

Of  virtue  nought  to  boast  of.    I'm  a  striker. 
Would  have  the  world  strike  with  me,  pell-mell,  all. 

Pandienionium. 

Tressilian,  in  strange  agitation  of  mind,  had  hardly 
stepped  down  the  first  two  or  three  steps  of  the  winding  stair- 
case, when,  greatly  to  his  surprise  and  displeasure,  he  met 
Michael  Lambourne,  wearing  an  impudent  familiarity  of 
visage,  for  which  Tressilian  felt  much  disposed  to  throw  him 
downstairs;  until  he  remembered  the  prejudice  which  Amy, 
the  only  object  of  his  solicitude,  was  likely  to  receive  from  his 
engaging  in  any  act  of  violence  at  that  time  and  in  that  place. 

He,  therefore,  contented  himself  with  looking  sternly  upon 
Lambourne,  as  upon  one  whom  he  deemed  unworthy  of  notice, 
and  attempted  to  pass  him  in  his  way  downstairs  without  any 
symptom  of  recognition.  But  Lambourne,  who,  amidst  the 
profusion  of  that  day's  hospitality,  had  not  failed  to  take  a 
deep,  though  not  an  overpowering,  cup  of  sack,  was  not  in  the 
humour  of  humbling  himself  before  any  man's  looks.  He 
stopped  Tressilian  upon  the  staircase  without  the  least  bash- 
fulness  or  embarrassment,  and  addressed  him  as  if  they  had 
been  on  kind  and  intimate  terms :  "  What,  no  grudge  between 
us,  I  hope,  upon  old  scores,  Master  Tressilian?  Nay,  I  am 
one  who  remember  former  kindness  rather  than  later  feud. 
I'll  convince  you  that  I  meant  honestly  and  kindly,  ay,  and 
comfortably,  by  you. " 


KENILWORTH.  357 

''I  desire  none  of  your  intimacy,"  said  Tressilian;  "keep 
company  with  your  mates." 

"Now,  see  how  hasty  he  is!"  said  Lambourne;  "and  how 
these  gentles,  that  are  made  questionless  out  of  the  porcelain 
clay  of  the  earth,  look  down  upon  poor  Michael  Lambourne! 
You  would  take  Master  Tressilian  now  for  the  most  maid-like, 
modest,  simpering  squire  of  dames  that  ever  made  love  when 
candles  were  long  i'  the  stuff — snuff — call  you  it?  Why,  you 
would  play  the  saint  on  us,  Master  Tressilian,  and  forget  that 
even  now  thou  hast  a  commodity  in  thy  very  bedchamber,  to 
the  shame  of  my  lord's  castle — ha!  ha!  ha!  Have  I  touched 
you,  Master  Tressilian?" 

"  I  know  not  what  you  mean, "  said  Tressilian,  inferring, 
however,  too  surely  that  this  licentious  rufl&an  must  have  been 
sensible  of  Amy's  presence  in  his  apartment ;  "  but  if, "  he  con- 
tinued, "  thou  art  varlet  of  the  chambers,  and  lackest  a  fee, 
there  is  one  to  leave  miue  unmolested." 

Lambourne  looked  at  the  piece  of  gold,  and  put  it  in  his 
pocket,  saying :  "  Now  I  know  not  but  you  might  have  done 
more  with  me  by  a  kind  word  than  by  this  chiming  rogue. 
But  after  all,  he  pays  well  that  pays  with  gold;  and  Mike 
Lambourne  was  never  a  make-bate,  or  a  spoil-sport,  or  the 
like.  E'en  live  and  let  others  live,  that  is  my  motto;  only,  I 
would  not  let  some  folks  cock  their  beaver  at  me  neither,  as 
if  they  were  made  of  silver  ore  and  I  of  Dutch  pewter.  So, 
if  I  keep  your  secret.  Master  Tressilian,  you  may  look  sweet 
on  me  at  least ;  and  were  I  to  want  a  little  backing  or  counte- 
nance, being  caught,  as  you  see  the  best  of  us  may  be,  in  a 
sort  of  peccadillo — why,  you  owe  it  me;  and  so  e'en  make 
your  chamber  serve  you  and  that  same  bird  in  bower  beside — ■ 
it's  all  one  to  Mike  Lamboui'ne." 

"Make  way,  sir,"  said  Tressilian,  unable  to  bridle  his  in- 
dignation ;  "  you  have  had  your  fee. " 

"Um!"  said  Lambourne,  giving  place,  however,  while  he 
sulkily  muttered  between  his  teeth,  repeating  Tressilian' s 
words — "  'Make  way'  " — and  "  'you  have  had  your  fee'  " ;  but 
it  matters  not.  I  will  spoil  no  sport,  as  I  said  before;  I  am 
no  dog  in  the  manger,  mind  that." 


358  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

He  spoke  louder  and  louder,  as  Tressilian,  by  ■whom  he  felt 
himself  overawed,  got  farther  and  farther  out  of  hearmg. 

"I  am  no  dog  in  the  manger;  but  I  will  not  carry  coals 
neither,  mind  that,  my  Master  Tressilian ;  and  I  will  have  a 
peep  at  this  wench,  whom  you  have  quartered  so  commodiously 
in  your  old  haunted  room,  afraid  of  ghosts,  belike,  and  not 
too  willing  to  sleep  alone.  If  /  had  done  this  now  in  a  sti-ange 
lord's  castle,  the  word  had  been,  'The  porter's  lodge  for  the 
knave!'  and 'Have  him  flogged;  trundle  him  downstaii'S  like 
a  turnip!'  Ay,  but  your  virtuous  gentlemen  take  strange 
privileges  over  us,  who  are  downright  servants  of  our  senses. 
Well,  I  have  my  Master  Tressilian's  head  mider  my  belt  by 
this  lucky  discovery,  that  is  one  thing  certain ;  and  I  will  try 
to  get  a  sight  of  this  Lindabrides  of  his,  that  is  another." 


CHAPTER   XXIX. 

Now  fare  thee  well,  my  master ;  if  true  service 
Be  guerdon'd  with  hard  looks,  e'en  cut  the  tow-line, 
And  let  our  barks  across  the  pathless  flood 
Hold  different  courses. 

Shipwreck, 

TRESSiLiAisr  walked  into  the  outer  yard  of  the  castle,  scarce 
knowing  what  to  think  of  his  late  strange  and  most  unex- 
pected interview  with  Amy  Robsart,  and  dubious  if  he  had 
done  well,  being  entrusted  with  the  delegated  authority  of  her 
father,  to  pass  his  word  so  solemnly  to  leave  her  to  her  own 
guidance  for  so  many  hours.  Yet  how  could  he  have  denied 
her  request,  dependent  as  she  had  too  probably  rendered  her- 
self upon  Varney?  Such  was  his  natural  reasoning.  The 
happiness  of  her  future  life  might  depend  upon  his  not  driving 
her  to  extremities,  and  since  no  authority  of  Tressilian's  could 
extricate  her  from  the  power  of  Varney,  supposing  he  was  to 
acknowledge  Amy  to  be  his  wife,  what  title  had  he  to  destroy 
the  hope  of  domestic  peace  which  might  yet  remain  to  her  by 
setting  enmity  betwixt  them?  Tressilian  resolved,  therefore, 
scrupulously  to  observe  his  word  pledged  to  Amy,  both  because 


KENILWORTH.  359 

it  had  been  given,  and  because,  as  he  still  thought,  while  he 
considered  and  reconsidered  that  extraordinary  interview,  it 
could  not  with  justice  or  propriety  have  been  refused. 

In  one  respect  he  had  gamed  much  towards  securing  effec- 
tual protection  for  this  unhappy  and  still  beloved  object  of  his 
early  affection.  Amy  was  no  longer  mewed  up  in  a  distant 
and  solitary  retreat,  under  the  charge  of  persons  of  doubtful 
reputation.  She  was  in  the  Castle  of  Kenilworth,  within  the 
verge  of  the  royal  court  for  the  time,  free  from  all  risk  of 
violence,  and  liable  to  be  produced  before  Elizabeth  on  the 
first  summons.  These  Avere  circumstances  which  could  not 
but  assist  greatly  the  efforts  which  he  might  have  occasion  to 
use  in  her  behalf. 

While  he  was  thus  balancuig  the  advantages  and  perils 
which  attended  her  unexpected  presence  in  Kenilworth,  Tres- 
silian  was  hastily  and  anxiously  accosted  by  Wayland,  who, 
after  ejaculating,  "  Thank  God,  your  worship  is  found  at  last!" 
proceeded  with  breathless  caution  to  pour  into  his  ear  the  in- 
telligence that  the  lady  had  escaped  from  Cumnor  Place. 

"And  is  at  present  in  this  castle,"  said  Tressilian;  "  I  know 
it,  and  I  have  seen  her.  Was  it  by  her  o^vn  choice  she  found 
refuge  in  my  apartment?" 

"  No, "  answered  Wayland ;  "  but  I  could  think  of  no  other 
way  of  safely  bestowing  her,  and  was  but  too  happy  to  find  a 
deputy-usher  who  knew  where  you  were  quartered — m  jolly 
society  truly,  the  hall  on  the  one  hand  and  the  kitchen  on  the 
other!" 

"Peace,  this  is  no  time  for  jesting,"  answered  Tressilian, 
sternly. 

"  I  wot  that  but  too  well, "  said  the  artist,  "  for  I  have  felt 
these  three  days  as  if  I  had  an  halter  round  my  neck.  This 
lady  knows  not  her  own  mind ;  she  will  have  none  of  your  aid 
—  commands  you  not  to  be  named  to  her — and  is  about  to  put 
herseK  into  the  hands  of  my  Lord  Leicester.  I  had  never  got 
her  safe  into  your  chamber,  had  she  known  the  owner  of  it." 

"Is  it  possible?"  said  Tressilian.  "But  she  may  have 
hopes  the  earl  will  exert  his  influence  in  her  favour  over  his 
villainous  dependant." 


360  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

"  I  know  nothing  of  that, "  said  Wayland ;  "  but  I  believe,  if 
she  is  to  reconcile  herself  with  either  Leicester  or  Varney,  the 
side  of  the  Castle  of  Kenilworth  which  will  be  safest  for  us 
will  be  the  outside,  from  which  we  can  fastest  fly  away.  It 
is  not  my  purpose  to  abide  an  instant  after  delivery  of  the 
letter  to  Leicester,  which  waits  but  your  commands  to  find  its 
way  to  him.  See,  here  it  is ;  but  no — a  plague  on  it — I  must 
have  left  it  in.  my  dog-hole,  in  the  hayloft  yonder,  where  I  am 
to  sleep." 

''Death  and  fury!"  said  Tressilian,  transported  beyond  his 
usual  patience ;  "  thou  hast  not  lost  that  on  which  may  depend 
a  stake  more  important  than  a  thousand  such  lives  as  thine?" 

"Lost  it!"  answered  Wayland,  readily;  "that  were  a  jest 
indeed!  No,  sir,  I  have  it  carefully  put  up  with  my  night- 
sack,  and  some  matters  I  have  occasion  to  use.  I  will  fetch 
it  in  an  instant." 

"  Do  so, "  said  Tressilian ;  "  be  faithful,  and  thou  shalt  be 
well  rewarded.  But  if  I  have  reason  to  suspect  thee,  a  dead 
dog  were  in  better  case  than  thou!" 

Wayland  bowed,  and  took  his  leave  with  seeming  confidence 
and  alacrity ;  but,  in  fact,  filled  with  the  utmost  dread  and 
confusion.  The  letter  was  lost,  that  was  certain,  notwith- 
standing the  apology  which  he  had  made  to  appease  the  impa- 
tient displeasure  of  Tressilian.  It  was  lost ;  it  might  fall  into 
wrong  hands ;  it  would  then,  certainly,  occasion  a  discovery  of 
the  whole  intrigue  in  which  he  had  been  engaged ;  nor,  indeed, 
did  Wayland  see  much  prospect  of  its  remaining  concealed  in 
any  event.  He  felt  much  hurt,  besides,  at  Tressilian' s  burst 
of  impatience. 

"  Nay,  if  I  am  to  be  paid  in  this  coin  for  services  where  my 
neck  is  concerned,  it  is  time  I  should  look  to  myself.  Here 
have  I  offended,  for  aught  I  Icnow,  to  the  death  the  lord  of 
this  stately  castle,  whose  word  were  as  powerful  to  take  away 
my  life  as  the  breath  which  speaks  it  to  blow  out  a  farthing 
candle.  And  all  this  for  a  mad  lady  and  a  melancholy  gal- 
lant, who,  on  the  loss  of  a  four-nooked  bit  of  paper,  has  his 
hand  on  his  poignado,  and  swears  death  and  fury!  Then 
there  is  the  doctor  and  Varney — I  will  save  myseK  from  th& 


KENILWORTH.  361 

whole  mess  of  them.     Life  is  dearer  than  gold;  I  will  fly  thig 
instant,  though  I  leave  my  reward  behind  me." 

These  reflections  naturally  enough  occurred  to  a  mind  like 
Wayland's,  who  found  himseK  engaged  far  deeper  than  he 
had  expected  in  a  train  of  mysterious  and  imiutelligible  in- 
trigues, in  which  the  actors  seemed  hardly  to  know  their  own 
course.  And  yet,  to  do  him  justice,  his  personal  fears  were, 
in  some  degree,  counterbalanced  by  his  compassion  for  the 
deserted  state  of  the  lady. 

"I  care  not  a  groat  for  Master  Tressilian,"  he  said;  "I 
have  done  more  than  bargain  by  him,  and  have  brought  his 
errant-damozel  within  his  reach,  so  that  he  may  look  after  her 
himself;  bat  I  fear  the  poor  thing  is  in  much  danger  amongst 
these  stormy  spirits.  I  will  to  her  chamber,  and  tell  her  the 
fate  which  has  befallen  her  letter,  that  she  may  write  another 
if  she  list.  She  cannot  lack  a  messenger,  I  trow,  where  there 
are  so  many  lackeys  that  can  carry  a  letter  to  their  lord.  And 
I  will  tell  her  also  that  I  leave  the  castle,  trusting  her  to  God, 
her  own  guidance,  and  Master  Tressilian's  care  and  looking 
after.  Perhaps  she  may  remember  the  riag  she  offered  me ; 
it  was  well  earned,  I  trow.  But  she  is  a  lovely  creature,  and 
' — marry  hang  the  ring !  I  will  not  bear  a  base  spirit  for  the 
matter.  If  I  fare  ill  in  this  world  for  my  good-nature,  I  shall 
have  better  chance  in  the  next.  So  now  for  the  lady,  and 
then  for  the  road." 

With  the  stealthy  step  and  jealous  eye  of  the  cat  that  steals 
on  her  prey.  Way  land  resumed  the  way  to  the  countess's 
chamber,  sliding  along  by  the  side  of  the  courts  and  passages, 
alike  observant  of  all  around  him  and  studious  himself  to 
escape  osbervation.  In  this  manner  he  crossed  the  outward 
and  inward  castle-yard,  and  the  great  arched  passage,  which, 
running  betwixt  the  range  of  kitchen  offices  and  the  haU,  led 
to  the  bottom  of  the  little  winding  stair  that  gave  access  to 
the  chambers  of  Mer\^n's  Tower. 

The  artist  congratulated  himseK  on  having  escaped  the 
various  perils  of  his  journey,  and  was  in  the  act  of  ascending 
by  two  steps  at  once,  when  he  observed  that  the  shadow  of  a 
man,  thrown  from  a  door  which  stood  ajar,  darkened  the  op- 


362  WAVERLET  NOVELS. 

posite  wall  of  the  staircase.  Waylaiid  drcAv  back  cautiously, 
went  down  to  the  inner  courtyard,  spent  about  a  quarter  of  an 
hour,  which  seemed  at  least  quadruple  its  usual  duration,  in 
walking  from  place  to  place,  and  then  returned  to  the  tower, 
in  hopes  to  find  that  the  lurker  had  disappeared.  He  ascended 
as  high  as  the  suspicious  spot — there  was  no  shadow  on  the 
wall;  he  ascended  a  few  yards  farther — the  door  was  still 
ajar,  and  he  was  doubtful  whether  to  advance  or  retreat,  when 
it  was  suddenly  thrown  wide  open,  and  Michael  Lambourne 
bolted  out  upon  the  astonished  Wayland.  "  Who  the  devil 
axt  thou?  and  what  seek'st  thou  in  this  part  of  the  castle? 
March  into  that  chamber,  and  be  hanged  to  thee!" 

"I  am  no  dog,  to  go  at  every  man's  whistle,"  said  the 
artist,  affecting  a  confidence  which  was  belied  by  a  timid 
shake  in  his  voice. 

"  Say'st  thou  me  so?     Come  hither,  Laurence  Staples." 

A  huge,  ill-made  and  ill-looked  fellow,  upwards  of  six  feet 
high,  appeared  at  the  door,  and  Lambourne  proceeded:  "If 
thou  be'st  so  fond  of  this  tower,  my  friend,  thou  shalt  see  its 
foundations,  good  twelve  feet  below  the  bed  of  the  lake,  and 
tenanted  by  certain  jolly  toads,  snakes,  and  so  forth,  which 
thou  wilt  find  mighty  good  company.  Therefore,  once  more 
r  ask  you  in  fair  play  who  thou  art,  and  what  thou  seek'st 
here?" 

"If  the  dungeon-grate  once  clashes  behind  me,"  thought 
Wayland,  "  I  am  a  gone  man. "  He  therefore  answered  sub- 
missively, "He  was  the  poor  juggler  whom  his  honour  had 
met  yesterday  in  Weatherly  Bottom." 

"And  what  juggling  trick  art  thou  playing  in  this  tower? 
Thy  gang,"  said  Lambourne,  "lie  over  against  Clinton's 
Buildings." 

"  I  came  here  to  see  my  sister,"  said  the  juggler,  "  who  is  in 
Master  Tressilian's  chamber,  just  above." 

"Aha!"  said  Lambourne,  smiling,  "here  be  truths!  Upon 
my  honour,  for  a  stranger,  this  same  Master  Tressilian  makes 
himself  at  home  among  us,  and  furnishes  out  his  cell  hand- 
somely with  all  sorts  of  commodities.  This  will  be  a  precious 
tale  of  the  sainted  Master  Tressilian,  and  will  be  welcome  to 


KENILWORTH.  363 

some  folks,  as  a  purse  of  broad  pieces  to  me.  Hark  ye,  fel- 
low, "  he  contiaued,  addi-essing  Wayland,  "  thou  shalt  not  give 
puss  a  hint  to  steal  away :  we  must  catch  her  in  her  form. 
So,  back  with  that  pitiful  sheep-biting  visage  of  thine,  or  I 
will  fling  thee  from  the  window  of  the  tower,  and  try  if  your 
juggling  skill  can  save  your  bones." 

*' Your  worship  will  not  be  so  hard-hearted,  I  hope,"  said 
Wayland;  "poor  folk  must  live.  I  trust  your  honour  will 
allow  me  to  speak  with  my  sister?" 

"  Sister  on  Adam's  side,  I  warrant,"  said  Lambourne;  "or, 
if  otherwise,  the  more  knave  thou.  But  sister  or  no  sister, 
thou  diest  on  point  of  fox,  if  thou  comest  a-prying  to  this 
tower  once  more.  And  now  I  think  of  it — uds  daggers  and 
death ! — I  will  see  thee  out  of  the  castle,  for  this  is  a  more 
main  concern  than  thy  jugglery." 

"  But,  please  your  worship, "  said  Wayland,  "  I  am  to  enact 
Arion  in  the  pageant  upon  the  lake  this  very  evening." 

"I  will  act  it  myself,  by  St.  Christopher!"  said  Lambourne. 
"Orion,  caH'st  thou  him?  I  will  act  Orion,  his  belt  and  his 
seven  stars  to  boot.  Come  along,  for  a  rascal  knave  as  thou 
art;  follow  me!  Or  stay;  Laurence,  do  thou  bring  him 
along." 

Laurence  seized  by  the  collar  of  the  cloak  the  unresisting 
juggler,  while  Lambourne,  with  hasty  steps,  led  the  way  to 
that  same  sally-port,  or  secret  postern,  by  which  Tressilian 
had  returned  to  the  castle,  and  which  opened  in  the  western 
wall,  at  no  great  distance  from  Mervyn's  Tower. 

While  traversing  with  a  rapid  foot  the  space  betwixt  the 
tower  and  the  sally-port,  Wayland  in  vain  racked  his  brain  for 
some  device  which  might  avail  the  poor  lady,  for  whom,  not- 
withstanding his  own  imminent  danger,  he  felt  deep  interest. 
But  when  he  was  thrust  out  of  the  castle,  and  informed  by 
Lambourne,  with  a  tremendous  oath,  that  instant  death  would 
be  the  consequence  of  his  again  approaching  it,  he  cast  up  his 
hands  and  eyes  to  heaven,  as  if  to  call  God  to  witness  he  had 
stood  to  the  uttermost  in  defence  of  the  oppressed ;  then  turned 
his  back  on  the  proud  towers  of  Kenilworth,  and  went  his  way 
to  seek  a  humbler  and  safer  place  of  refuge. 


364  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

Laurence  and  Lambourne  gazed  a  little  while  after  Wayland, 
and  then  turned  to  go  back  to  their  tower,  when  the  former 
thus  addressed  his  companion:  "Never  credit  me,  Master 
Lambourne,  if  I  can  guess  why  thou  hast  driven  this  poor  cai- 
tiff from  the  castle,  just  when  he  was  to  bear  a  part  in  the 
show  that  was  beginning,  and  all  this  about  a  wench," 

"  Ah,  Laurence, "  replied  Lambourne,  "  thou  art  thinking  of 
Black  Joan  Jugges  of  Slingdon,  and  hast  sympathy  with  hu- 
man frailty.  But  corragio,  most  noble  Duke  of  the  Dungeoa 
and  Lord  of  Limbo,  for  thou  art  as  dark  in  this  matter  as 
thine  own  dominions  of  Little  Ease.  My  most  reverend  Sig- 
nior  of  the  Low  Countries  of  Kenilworth,  know  that  our  most 
notable  master,  Richard  Varney,  would  give  as  much  to  have 
a  hole  in  this  same  Tressilian's  coat  as  would  make  us  some 
fifty  midnight  carousals,  with  the  fidl  leave  of  bidding  the 
steward  go  snick  up,  if  he  came  to  startle  us  too  soon  from 
our   goblets." 

"  Nay,  an  that  be  the  case,  thou  hast  right, "  said  Laurence 
Staples,  the  upper-warder,  or,  in  common  phrase,  the  first 
jailor  of  Kenilworth  Castle,  and  of  the  liberty  and  honour  be- 
longing thereto ;  "  but  how  will  you  manage  when  you  are  ab- 
sent at  the  Queen's  entrance,  Master  Lambourne;  for  methinks 
thou  must  attend  thy  master  there?" 

"Why,  thou,  mine  honest  prince  of  prisons,  must  keep 
ward  in  my  absence.  Let  Tressilian  enter  if  he  will,  but 
see  thou  let  no  one  come  out.  If  the  damsel  herself  would 
make  a  break,  as  'tis  not  unlike  she  may,  scare  her  back 
with  rough  words;  she  is  but  a  paltry  player's  wench  after 
all." 

"Nay,  for  that  matter,"  said  Laurence,  "I  might  shut  the 
iron  wicket  upon  her,  that  stands  without  the  double  door,  and 
so  force  per  force  she  will  be  bound  to  her  answer  without 
more  trouble." 

"Then  Tressilian  will  not  get  access  to  her,"  said  Lam- 
bourne, reflecting  a  moment.  "  But  'tis  no  matter ;  she  will 
be  detected  in  his  chamber,  and  that  is  all  one.  But  confess, 
thou  old  bat's-eyed  dungeon-keeper,  that  you  fear  to  keep 
awake  by  yourself  in  that  Mervyn's  Tower  of  thine?" 


KENILWORTH.  365 

"  Wliy,  as  to  fear.  Master  Lambourne, "  said  tlie  f ellow>  "  I 
mind  it  uot  the  turning  of  a  key ;  but  strange  things  have  been 
heard  and  seen  in  that  tower.  You  must  have  heard,  for  as 
short  time  as  you  have  been  in  Kenilworth,  that  it  is  haunted 
by  the  spirit  of  Arthur  ap  Mervyn,  a  wild  chief  taken  by  fierce 
Lord  Mortimer,  when  he  was  one  of  the  Lords  Marchers  of 
Wales,  and  murdered,  as  they  say,  in  that  same  tower  which 
bears  his  name?" 

"  Oh,  I  have  heard  the  tale  five  hundred  times, "  said  Lam- 
bourne, "  and  how  the  ghost  is  always  most  vociferous  when 
they  boil  leeks  and  stirabout,  or  fry  toasted  cheese,  in  the  cu- 
linary regions.  Santo  Diavolo,  man,  hold  thy  tongue,  I  know 
all  about  it!" 

"  Ay,  but  thou  dost  not,  though, "  said  the  turnkey,  "  for  as 
wise  as  thou  wouldst  make  thyself.  Ah,  it  is  an  awful  thing 
to  murder  a  prisoner  in  his  ward !  You,  that  may  have  given 
a  man  a  stab  in  a  dark  street,  know  nothing  of  it.  To  give  a 
mutinous  fellow  a  knock  on  the  head  with  the  keys,  and  bid 
him  be  quiet,  that's  what  I  call  keeping  order  in  the  ward; 
but  to  draw  weapon  and  slay  him,  as  was  done  to  this  Welsh 
lord,  that  raises  you  a  ghost  that  will  render  your  prison- 
house  untenantable  by  any  decent  captive  for  some  hundred 
years.  And  I  have  that  regard  for  my  prisoners,  poor  things, 
that  I  have  put  good  squires  and  men  of  worship,  that  have 
taken  a  ride  on  the  highway,  or  slandered  my  Lord  of  Leices- 
ter, or  the  like,  fifty  feet  under  ground,  rather  than  I  would 
put  them  into  that  upper  chamber  yonder  that  they  call  Mer- 
vyn's  Bower.  Indeed,  by  good  St.  Peter  of  the  Fetters,  I 
marvel  my  noble  lord  or  Master  Varney  could  think  of  lodging 
guests  there ;  and  if  this  Master  Tressilian  could  get  any  one 
to  keep  him  company,  and  in  especial  a  pretty  wench,  why, 
truly,  I  think  he  was  in  the  right  on't." 

"I  tell  thee,"  said  Lambourne,  leading  the  way  into  the 
turnkey's  apartment,  "thou  art  an  ass.  Go  bolt  the  wicket 
on  the  stair,  and  trouble  not  thy  noddle  about  ghosts.  Give 
me  the  wine-stoup,  man;  I  am  somewhat  heated  with  chafing 
■with  yonder  rascal." 

While  Lambourne  drew  a  long  draught  from  a  pitcher  of 


BGQ  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

c'iaret,  wliicli  lie  made  use  of  without  any  cup,  the  warder 
went  on  vindicating  his  own  belief  in  the  supernatui-al. 

"  Thou  hast  been  few  hours  in  this  castle,  and  hast  been  for 
the  whole  space  so  drunk,  Lambourne,  that  thou  art  deaf, 
dumb,  and  blmd.  But  we  should  hear  less  of  your  bragging, 
Avere  you  to  pass  a  night  with  us  at  full  moon,  for  then  the 
ghost  is  busiest ;  and  more  especially  when  a  rattling  wind  sets 
in  from  the  northwest,  with  some  sprinkling  of  rain,  and  now 
and  then  a  growl  of  thunder.  Body  o'  me,  what  crackings 
and  clashings,  what  groanings  and  what  howlings,  will  there 
be  at  such  times  in  Mervyn's  Bower,  right  as  it  were  over  our 
heads,  till  the  matter  of  two  quarts  of  distilled  waters  has  not 
been  enough  to  keep  my  lads  and  me  in  some  heart!" 

"Pshaw,  man!"  replied  Lambourne,  on  whom  his  last 
draught,  joined  to  repeated  visitations  of  the  pitcher  upon 
former  occasions,  began  to  make  some  innovation,  "thou 
speak'st  thou  know'st  not  what  about  spirits.  No  one  knows 
justly  what  to  say  about  them ;  and,  in  short,  least  said  may 
in  that  matter  be  soonest  amended.  Some  men  believe  iu  one 
thing,  some  in  another:  it  is  all  matter  of  fancy.  I  have 
known  them  of  all  sorts,  my  dear  Laurence  Lock-the-Door, 
and  sensible  men  too.  There's  a  great  lord — we'll  pass  his 
aame,  Laurence — he  believes  in  the  stars  and  the  moon,  the 
planets  and  their  courses,  and  so  forth,  and  that  they  twinkle 
exclusively  for  his  benefit  j  when,  in  sober,  or  rather  in 
drunken,  truth,  Laurence,  they  are  only  shining  to  keep  hon- 
est fellows  like  me  out  of  the  kennel.  Well,  sir,  let  his  hu- 
mour pass ;  he  is  great  enough  to  indulge  it.  Then  look  ye, 
there  is  another — a  very  learned  man,  I  promise  you,  and  can 
vent  Greek  and  Hebrew  as  fast  as  I  can  thieves'  Latin — he 
has  an  humour  of  sympathies  and  antipathies,  of  changing 
lead  into  gold,  and  the  like ;  why,  via,  let  that  pass  too,  and 
let  him  pay  those  in  transmigrated  coin  who  are  fools  enough 
to  let  it  be  current  with  them.  Then  here  comest  thou  thy- 
self, another  great  man,  though  neither  learned  nor  noble,  yet 
full  six  feet  high,  and  thou,  like  a  purblind  mole,  must  needs 
believe  in  ghosts  and  goblins,  and  such-like.  Now,  there  is, 
besides,  a  great  man — that  is,  a  great  little  man,  or  a  little 


KENILTVORTH.  367 

great  man,  my  dear  Laurence — and  his  name  begins  with  Y, 
and  what  believes  he?  Why,  nothing,  honest  Laurence-— 
nothing  in  earth,  heaven,  or  hell ;  and  for  my  part,  if  I  believe 
there  is  a  devil,  it  is  only  because  I  think  there  must  be  some 
one  to  catoh  our  aforesaid  friend  by  the  back  *  when  soul  and 
body  sever, '  as  the  ballad  says ;  for  your  antecedent  will  have 
a  consequent — raro  antecedentem,  as  Doctor  Bricham  was  wont 
to  say.  But  this  is  Greek  to  you  now,  honest  Laurence,  and 
in  sooth  learning  is  dry  work.  Hand  me  the  ^Ditcher  once 
more." 

"  In  faith,  if  you  drink  more,  Michael, "  said  the  warder, 
*'you  will  be  in  sorry  case  either  to  play  Arion  or  to  wait  on 
your  master  on  such  a  solemn  night;  and  I  expect  each  mo- 
ment to  hear  the  great  bell  toll  for  the  muster  at  Mortimer's 
Tower  to  receive  the  Queen." 

While  Staples  remonstrated,  Lambourne  drank;  and  then 
setting  down  the  pitcher,  which  was  nearly  emptied,  with  a 
deep  sigh,  he  said  in  an  vmdertone,  which  soon  rose  to  a  high 
one  as  his  speech  proceeded,  "  Never  mind,  Laurence ;  if  I  be 
dnmk,  I  know  that  shall  make  Varney  uphold  me  sober.  But, 
as  I  said,  never  mind,  I  can  carry  my  drink  discreetly. 
Moreover,  I  am  to  go  on  the  water  as  Orion,  and  shall  talie 
cold  miless  I  take  something  comfortable  beforehand.  Not 
play  Orion !  Let  us  see  the  best  roai'er  that  ever  strained  hii 
lungs  for  twelve  pence  out-mouth  me !  What  if  they  see  me  a 
little  disguised?  "VMierefore  should  any  man  be  sober  to- 
night? answer  me  that.  It  is  matter  of  loyalty  to  be  merry; 
and  I  tell  thee,  there  are  those  in  the  castle  who,  if  they  are 
not  merry  when  drunk,  have  little  chance  to  be  merry  when 
sober.  I  name  uo  names,  Laurence.  But  your  pottle  of  sack 
is  a  fine  shoeuig-horn  to  pull  on  a  loyal  humour  and  a  merry 
one.  Huzza  for  Queen  Elizabeth! — for  the  noble  Leicester!  — 
for  the  worshipful  Master  Yarney! — and  for  Michael  Lam- 
bourne, that  can  turn  them  all  romid  his  finger!" 

So  saying,  he  walked  downstairs,  and  across  the  inner  court. 

The  Avarder  looked  after  him,  shook  his  head,  and,  while  he 
drew  close  and  locked  a  wicket,  which,  ci"Ossing  the  staircase, 
rendered  it  impossible  for  any  one  to  ascend  higher  than  tho 


368  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

Btoiy  immediately  beneath  Mervyn's  Bower,  as  Tressilian's 
chamber  was  named,  he  thus  soliloquised  with  himself:  "It's 
a  good  thing  to  be  a  favourite.  I  wellnigh  lost  mine  office 
because,  one  frosty  morning,  Master  Varney  thought  I  smeUed 
of  aquavitse;  and  this  fellow  can  appear  before  him  drimk  as 
a  wine-skin,  and  yet  meet  no  rebuke.  But  then  he  is  a  pesti- 
lent clever  fellow  withal,  and  no  one  can  understand  above 
one-half  of  what  he  says." 


CHAPTER  XXX. 


Now  bid  the  steeple  rock ;  she  comes— she  comes . 
Speak  for  us,  bells — speak  for  us,  shrill-tongued  tuckets.  ''■• 

Stand  to  thy  linstock,  gunner ;  let  thy  cannon 
!  Play  such  a  peal,  as  if  a  paynim  foe 

Came  stretch'd  in  turban'd  ranks  to  storm  the  ramparts. 
We  will  have  pageants  too ;  but  that  craves  wit, 
And  I'm  a  rough-hewn  soldier. 

The  Virgin  Queen,  a  Tragi-Comedy, 

Tressiliax,  when  Wayland  had  left  him,  as  mentioned  in 
the  last  chapter,  remained  uncertain  what  he  ought  next  to  do, 
\5^hen  Raleigh  and  Blount  came  up  to  him  arm  in  arm,  yet, 
according  to  their  wont,  very  eagerly  disputing  together. 
Tressilian  had  no  great  desire  for  their  society  in  the  present 
state  of  his  feelings,  but  there  was  no  possibility  of  avoiding 
them ;  and  indeed  he  felt  that,  bound  by  his  promise  not  to 
approach  Amy,  or  take  any  step  in  her  behalf,  it  would  be  his 
best  course  at  once  to  mix  with  general  society,  and  to  exhibit 
on  his  brow  as  little  as  he  could  of  the  anguish  and  uncertainty 
which  sat  heavy  at  his  heart.  He  therefore  made  a  virtue  of 
necessity,  and  hailed  his  comrades  with,  "  All  mirth  to  you, 
gentlemen.     Whence  come  ye?" 

"  From  Warwick,  to  be  sure,"  said  Blount ;  "  we  must  needs 
home  to  change  our  habits,  like  poor  players,  who  are  fain  to 
multiply  their  persons  to  outward  appearance  by  change  of 
suits ;  and  you  had  better  do  the  like,  Tressilian. " 

"Blount  is  right,"  said  Raleigh;  "the  Queen  loves  such 
marks  of  deference,  and  notices,  as  wanting  in  respect,  those 


KENILWORTH.  369 

who,  not  arriving  in  her  immediate  attendance,  may  appear  in 
their  soiled  and  ruffled  riding-dress.  But  look  at  Blount  him- 
self, Tressilian,  for  the  love  of  laughter,  and  see  hoAV  his 
villainous  tailor  hath  apparelled  him — in  blue,  green,  and 
crimson,  with  carnation  ribands,  and  yellow  roses  in  his 
shoes !" 

""Why,  what  wouldst  thou  have?"  said  Blount.  "I  told 
the  cross-legged  thief  to  do  his  best,  and  spare  no  cost ;  and 
methinks  these  thiugs  are  gay  enough — gayer  than  thine  own. 
I'll  be  judged  by  Tressilian," 

"  I  agree — I  agree, "  said  Walter  Raleigh.  "  Judge  betwixt 
us,  Tressilian,  for  the  love  of  Heaven!" 

Tressilian,  thus  appealed  to,  looked  at  them  both,  and  was 
immediately  sensible  at  a  single  glance  that  honest  Blount  had 
taken  upon  the  tailor's  warrant  the  pied  garments  which  he 
had  chosen  to  make,  and  was  as  much  embarrassed  by  the 
■quantity  of  points  and  ribands  which  garnished  his  dress  as  a 
clown  is  in  his  holyday  clothes ;  while  the  dress  of  Raleigh 
was  a  well-fancied  and  rich  suit,  which  the  wearer  bore  as  a 
garb  too  well  adapted  to  his  elegant  person  to  attract  particu- 
lar attention.  Tressilian  said,  therefore,  "That  Blount's 
dress  was  finest,  but  Raleigh's  the  best  fancied." 

Blount  was  satisfied  with  his  decision.  "  I  knew  mine  was 
finest,"  he  said;  "if  that  knave  Doublestitch  had  brought  me 
home  such  a  simple  doublet  as  that  of  Raleigh's,  I  would  have 
beat  his  brains  out  with  his  own  pressing-iron.  Nay,  if  we 
must  be  fools,  ever  let  us  be  fools  of  the  first  head,  say  I." 

"  But  why  gettest  thou  not  on  thy  braveries,  Tressilian?" 
said  Raleigh. 

"I  am  excluded  from  my  apartment  by  a  silly  mistake," 
said  Tressilian,  "  and  separated  for  the  time  from  my  baggage. 
I  was  about  to  seek  thee,  to  beseech  a  share  of  thy  lodging. " 

"And  welcome,"  said  Raleigh;  "it  is  a  noble  one.  My 
liOrd  of  Leicester  has  done  us  that  kindness,  and  lodged  us  in 
princely  fashion.  If  his  courtesy  be  extorted  reluctantly,  it  is 
at  least  extended  far.  I  would  advise  you  to  tell  your  strait 
to  the  earl's  chamberlain:  you  will  have  instant  redress." 

"Nay,  it  is  not  worth  while,  since  you  can  spare  me  room," 
24 


370  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

replied  Tressilian :  "  I  would  uot  be  troublesome.  Has  any 
one  come  hither  with  you?" 

"Oh,  ay,"  said  Blount;  "Varney,  and  a  whole  tribe  of 
Leicestrians,  besides  about  a  score  of  us  honest  Sussex  folk. 
"We  are  all,  it  seems,  to  receive  the  Queen  at  what  they  call 
the  Gallery  Tower,  and  witness  some  fooleries  there ;  and  then 
we're  to  remain  in  attendance  upon  the  Queen  in  the  great 
hall — God  bless  the  mark! — while  those  who  are  now  waiting 
uj^on  her  Grace  get  rid  of  their  slough,  and  doff  their  riding- 
suits.  Heaven  help  me,  if  her  Grace  should  speak  to  me,  I 
shall  never  know  what  to  answer!" 

"  And  what  has  detained  them  so  long  at  Warwick?"  said 
Tressilian,  unwilling  that  their  conversation  should  return  to 
his  own  affairs. 

"Such  a  succession  of  fooleries,"  said  Blount,  "as  were 
never  seen  at  Bartholomew  Fair.  We  have  had  speeches  and 
players,  and  dogs  and  bears,  and  men  making  monkeys,  and 
women  moppets,  of  themselves.  I  marvel  the  Queen  could 
endure  it.  But  ever  and  anon  came  in  something  of  '  the 
lovely  light  of  her  gracious  countenance, '  or  some  such  trash. 
Ah !  vanity  maJces  a  fool  of  the  wisest.  But,  come,  let  us  on 
to  this  same  Gallery  Tower,  though  I  see  not  what  thou, 
Tressilian,  canst  do  with  thy  riding-dress  and  boots." 

"  I  will  take  my  station  behind  thee,  Blount, "  said  Tressil- 
ian, who  saw  that  his  friend's  imusual  finery  had  take  a  strong 
hold  of  his  imagination ;  "  thy  goodly  size  and  gay  dress  will 
cover  my  defects." 

"  And  so  thou  shalt,  Edmund, "  said  Blount.  "  In  faith,  I 
am  glad  thou  think' st  my  garb  well-fancied,  for  all  Mr.  Wit- 
typate  here ;  for  when  one  does  a  foolish  thing,  it  is  right  to 
do  it  handsomely." 

So  saying,  Bloimt  cocked  his  beaver,  threw  out  his  leg,  and 
marched  manfully  forward,  as  if  at  the  head  of  his  brigade  of 
pikeman,  ever  and  anon  looking  with  complaisance  on  his 
crimson  stockings,  and  the  huge  yellow  roses  which  blossomed 
on  his  shoes.  Tressilian  followed,  wrapt  in  his  own  sad 
thoughts,  and  scarce  minding  Raleigh,  whose  quick  fancy, 
amused  by  the  awkward  vanity  of   his  respectable  friend. 


KENILWORTH.  371 

vented  itself  in  jests,  wliicli  he  wTiispered  into  Tressilian's 
ear. 

In  this  manner  they  crossed  the  long  hridge,  or  tilt-yard, 
and  took  their  station,  with  other  gentlemen  of  quality,  before 
the  outer  gate  of  the  gallery,  or  entrance-tower.  The  whole 
amounted  to  about  forty  persons,  all  selected  as  of  the  first 
rank  under  that  of  knighthood,  and  were  disposed  in  double 
rows  on  either  side  of  the  gate,  like  a  guard  of  honour-,  within 
the  close  hedge  of  pikes  and  partizans,  which  was  formed  by 
Leicester's  retainers,  wearing  his  liveries.  The  gentlemen 
carried  no  arms  save  their  swords  and  daggers.  These  gal- 
lants were  as  gaily  dressed  as  imagination  could  devise  j  and 
as  the  garb  of  the  time  permitted  a  great  display  of  expensive 
magnificence,  nought  was  to  be  seen  but  velvet  and  cloth  of 
gold  and  silver,  ribands,  feathers,  gems,  and  golden  chains. 
In  spite  of  his  more  serious  subjects  of  distress,  Tressiliaa 
could  not  help  feeling  that  he,  with  his  riding-suit,  however 
handsome  it  might  be,  made  rather  an  unworthy  figure  among 
these  "fierce  vanities,"  and  the  rather  because  he  saw  that  his 
dishabille  was  the  subject  of  wonder  among  his  own  friends 
and  of  scorn  among  the  pai-tizaa§  of  Leicester. 

We  could  not  suppress  this  fact,  though  it  may  seem  some- 
thing at  variance  with  the  gravity  of  Tressilian's  [character  j 
but  the  truth  is,  that  a  regard  for  personal  appearance  is  a 
species  of  self-love  from  which  the  wisest  are  not  exempt,  and 
to  which  the  mind  clings  so  instinctively,  that  not  only  the 
soldier  advancing  to  almost  mevitable  death,  but  even  the 
doomed  criminal  who  goes  to  certain  execution,  shows  an  anx- 
iety to  array  his  person  to  the  best  advantage.  But  this  is  a 
digression. 

It  was  the  twilight  of  a  summer  night  (9th  July  1575), 
the  sun  having  for  some  time  set,  and  all  were  in  anxious  ex- 
pectation of  the  Queen's  immediate  approach.  The  multiude 
had  remained  assembled  for  many  hours,  and  their  numbers 
were  still  rather  on  the  increase.  A  profuse  distribution  of 
refreshments,  together  with  roasted  oxen,  and  bai-rels  of  ale 
set  a-broach  in  different  places  of  the  road,  had  kept  the  pop- 
ulace in  perfect  love  and  loyalty  towards  the  Queen  and  her 


372  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

favourite,  which  might  have  somewhat  abated  had  fasting 
been  added  to  watching.  They  passed  away  the  time,  there- 
fore, with  the  usual  popular  amusements  of  whooping,  halloo- 
ing, shrieking,  and  playing  rude  tricks  upon  each  other,  form- 
ing the  chorus  of  discordant  sounds  usual  on  such  occasions. 
These  prevailed  all  through  the  crowded  roads  and  fields,  and 
especially  beyond  the  gate  of  the  chase,  where  the  greater 
number  of  the  common  sort  were  stationed;  when,  all  of  a 
sudden,  a  single  rocket  was  seen  to  shoot  into  the  atmosphere, 
and,  at  the  instant,  far  heard  over  flood  and  field,  the  great 
bell  of  the  castle  tolled. 

Immediately  there  was  a  pause  of  dead  silence,  succeeded 
by  a  deep  hum  of  expectation,  the  united  voice  of  many  thou- 
sands, none  of  whom  spoke  above  their  breath;  or,  to  use  a 
singular  expression,  the  whisper  of  an  immense  multitude. 

"  They  come  now,  for  certain, "  said  Raleigh.  "  Tressilian, 
that  sound  is  grand.  We  hear  it  from  this  distance,  as  mari- 
ners, after  a  long  voyage,  hear,  upon  their  night-watch,  the 
tide  rush  upon  some  distant  and  unknown  shore." 

''Mass!"  answered  Blount,  "I  hear  it  rather  as  I  used  to 
hear  mine  own  kine  lowing  from  the  close  of  Wittens  West- 
lowe. " 

"  He  wiU  assuredly  graze  presently, "  said  Raleigh  to  Tres- 
silian :  "  his  thought  is  all  of  fat  oxen  and  fertile  meadows ; 
he  grows  little  better  than  one  of  his  own  beeves,  and  only 
becomes  grand  when  he  is  provoked  to  pushing  and  goring. " 

"  We  shall  have  him  at  that  presently, "  said  Tressilian,  "  if 
you  spare  not  your  wit." 

"Tush,  I  care  not,"  answered  Raleigh;  "but  thou  too, 
Tressilian,  hast  turned  a  kind  of  owl,  that  flies  only  by  night ; 
hast  exchanged  thy  songs  for  screechings,  and  good  company 
for  an  ivy -tod." 

"  But  what  manner  of  animal  art  thou  thyself,  Raleigh, " 
said  Tressilian,  "that  thou  boldest  us  all  so  lightly?" 

"Who,  I?"  replied  Raleigh.  "An  eagle  am  I,  that  never 
wiR  think  of  dull  earth  whUe  there  is  a  heaven  to  soar  in  and 
a  sun  to  gaze  upon." 

"Well  bragged,  by  St.  Barnaby!"  said  Blount;  "but,  good 


KENILWORTH.  375 

Master  Eagle,  beware  the  cage,  and  beware  the  fowler.  Many 
birds  have  flown  as  high,  that  I  have  seen  stuffed  with  straw, 
and  himg  up  to  scare  kites.  But  hark,  what  a  dead  sUence 
hath  fallen  on  them  at  once!" 

"  The  procession  pauses, "  said  Raleigh,  "  at  the  gate  of  the 
chase,  where  a  sibyl,  one  of  the  Fatidicce,  meets  the  Queen, 
to  tell  her  fortune.  I  saw  the  verses ;  there  is  little  savour  in 
them,  and  her  Grace  has  been  already  crammed  full  with  such 
poetical  compliments.  She  whispered  to  me  during  the  Ee- 
corder's  speech  yonder,  at  Ford  Mill,  as  she  entered  the  liber- 
ties of  "Warwick,  how  she  was  '  ^jericpsa  harharce  loqueloe. '  " 

"  The  Queen  whispered  to  Mm  !  "  said  Blount,  in  a  kind  of 
soliloquy.     "  Good  God,  to  what  will  this  world  come!" 

His  farther  meditations  were  interrupted  by  a  shout  of  ap- 
plause from  the  multitude,  so  tremendously  vociferous  that 
the  country  echoed  for  miles  round.  The  guards,  thickly 
stationed  upon  the  road  by  which  the  Queen  was  to  advance, 
caught  up  the  acclamation,  which  ran  like  wildfire  to  the  cas- 
tie,  and  announced  to  all  within  that  Queen  Elizabeth  had  en- 
tered the  royal  chase  of  Kenilworth.  The  whole  music  of  the 
castle  sounded  at  once,  and  a  round  of  artillery,  with  a  salvo 
of  small  arms,  was  discharged  from  the  battlements ;  but  the 
noise  of  drums  and  trumpets,  and  even  of  the  cannon  them- 
selves, was  but  faintly  heard  amidst  the  roaring  and  reiterated 
welcomes  of  the  multitude. 

As  the  noise  began  to  abate,  a  broad  glare  of  light  was  seen 
to  appear  from  the  gate  of  the  park,  and,  broadening  and 
brightening  as  it  came  nearer,  advanced  along  the  open  and 
fair  avenue  that  led  towards  the  Gallery  Tower ;  which,  as  we 
have  already  noticed,  was  lined  on  either  hand  by  the  retain- 
ers of  the  Earl  of  Leicester.  The  word  was  passed  along  the 
line,  "The  Queen!  The  Queen!  Silence,  and  stand  fast!" 
Onward  came  the  cavalcade,  illuminated  by  two  hundred  thick 
waxen  torches,  in  the  hands  of  as  many  horsemen,  which  cast 
a  light  like  that  of  broad  day  all  around  the  procession,  but 
especially  on  the  principal  group,  of  which  the  Queen  herseK, 
arrayed  in  the  most  splendid  manner,  and  blazing  with  jewels, 
formed  the  central  figure.     She  was  mounted  on  a  milk-white 


374  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

horse,  which  she  reined  with  peculiar  grace  and  dignity ;  and 
in  the  whole  of  her  stately  and  noble  carriage  you  saw  the 
daughter  of  an  hundred  kings. 

The  ladies  of  the  court,  who  rode  beside  her  Majesty,  had 
taken  especial  care  that  their  own  external  appearance  should 
not  be  more  glorious  than  their  rank  and  the  occasion  altogether 
demanded,  so  that  no  inferior  luminary  might  appear  to  ap- 
proach the  orbit  of  royalty.  But  their  personal  charms,  and 
the  magnificence  by  which,  under  every  prudential  restraint, 
they  were  necessarily  distinguished,  exhibited  them  as  the 
very  flower  of  a  realm  so  far  famed  for  splendour  and  beauty. 
The  magnificence  of  the  courtiers,  free  from  such  restraints  as 
prudence  imposed  on  the  ladies,  was  yet  more  unbounded. 

Leicester,  who  glittered  like  a  golden  image  with  jewels  and 
cloth  of  gold,  rode  on  her  Majesty's  right  hand,  as  well  in 
quality  of  her  host  as  of  her  master  of  the  horse.  The  black 
steed  which  he  mounted  had  not  a  single  white  hair  on  his 
body,  and  was  one  of  the  most  renowned  chargers  in  Europe, 
having  been  purchased  by  the  earl  at  large  expense  for  this 
royal  occasion.  As  the  noble  animal  chafed  at  the  slow  pace 
of  the  procession,  and,  arching  his  stately  neck,  champed  on 
the  silver  bits  which  resti-ained  him,  the  foam  flew  from  his 
mouth  and  specked  his  well-formed  limbs,  as  if  with  spots  of 
snow.  The  rider  well  became  the  high  place  which  he  held 
and  the  proud  steed  which  he  bestrode ;  for  no  man  in  Eng- 
land, or  perhaps  in  Europe,  was  more  perfect  than  Dudley  in 
horsemanship  and  all  other  exercises  belonging  to  his  quality. 
He  was  bareheaded,  as  were  all  the  courtiers  in  the  train; 
and  the  red  torchlight  shone  upon  his  long  curled  tresses  of 
dark  hair,  and  on  his  noble  features,  to  the  beauty  of  which 
even  the  severest  criticism  could  only  object  the  lordly  fault, 
as  it  may  be  termed,  of  a  forehead  somewhat  too  high.  On 
that  proud  evening,  those  features  wore  all  the  grateful  solici- 
tude of  a  subject  to  show  himself  sensible  of  the  high  honour 
which  the  Queen  was  conferring  on  him,  and  all  the  pride  and 
satisfaction  which  became  so  glorious  a  moment.  Yet,  though 
neither  eye  nor  feature  betrayed  aught  but  feelings  which 
suited  the  occasion,  some  of  the  earl's  personal  attendants  re- 


KENILWORTH.  375 

marked  that  lie  was  unusually  pale,  and  they  expressed  to 
each  other  their  fear  that  he  was  taking  more  fatigue  than 
consisted  with  his  health. 

Yarney  followed  close  behind  his  master,  as  the  principal 
esquire  in  waiting,  and  had  charge  of  his  lordship's  black  vel- 
vet bonnet,  garnished  with  a  clasp  of  diamonds  and  surmounted 
by  a  white  pliune.  He  kept  his  eye  constantly  on  his  master; 
and,  for  reasons  with  which  the  reader  is  not  unacquainted, 
was,  among  Leicester's  numerous  dependants,  the  one  who 
■was  most  anxious  that  his  lord's  strength  and  resolution  should 
carry  him  successfully  through  a  day  so  agitating.  For,  al- 
though Yarney  was  one  of  the  few — the  very  few — moral 
monsters  who  contrive  to  lull  to  sleep  the  remorse  of  their  own 
bosoms,  and  are  drugged  into  moral  insensibility  by  atheism, 
as  men  in  extreme  agony  are  lulled  by  opium,  yet  he  knew 
that  in  the  breast  of  his  patron  there  was  already  awakened 
the  fire  that  is  never  quenched,  and  that  his  lord  felt,  amid 
all  the  pomp  and  magnificence  we  have  described,  the  gnawing 
of  the  worm  that  dieth  not.  Still,  however,  assured  as  Lord 
Leicester  stood,  by  Yarney' s  own  intelligence,  that  his  coun- 
tess laboured  under  an  indisposition  which  formed  an  unan- 
swerable apology  to  the  Queen  for  her  not  appearing  at  Kenil- 
worth,  there  was  little  danger,  his  wily  retainer  thought,  that 
a  man  so  ambitious  would  betray  himself  by  giving  way  to 
any  external  weakness. 

The  train,  male  and  female,  who  attended  immediately 
upon  the  Queen's  person  were,  of  course,  of  the  bravest  and 
the  fairest — the  highest  born  nobles  and  the  wisest  counsellors 
of  that  distinguished  reign,  to  repeat  whose  names  were  but 
to  weary  the  reader.  Behind  came  a  long  crowd  of  Ivnights 
and  gentlemen,  whose  rank  and  birth,  hoAvever  distinguished, 
were  thrown  into  shade,  as  their  persons  into  the  rear  of  a 
procession  whose  front  was  of  such  august  majesty. 

Thus  marshalled,  the  cavalcade  approached  the  Gallery 
Tower,  which  formed,  as  we  have  often  observed,  the  extreme 
barrier  of  the  castle. 

It  was  now  the  part  of  the  huge  porter  to  step  forward;  but 
the  lubbard  was  so  overwhelmed  with  confusion  of  spirit — the 


376  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

contents  of  one  immense  black-jack  of  double  ale,  which  he 
had  just  drank  to  quicken  his  memory,  having  treacherously 
confused  the  brain  it  was  intended  to  clear — that  he  only 
groaned  piteously,  and  remained  sitting  on  his  stone  seat;  and 
the  Queen  would  have  passed  on  without  greeting,  had  not  the 
gigantic  warder's  secret  ally,  Flibbertigibbet,  who  lay  perdue 
behind  him,  thrust  a  pin  into  the  rear  of  the  short  femoral 
garment  which  we  elsewhere  described. 

The  porter  uttered  a  sort  of  a  yell,  which  came  not  amiss 
into  his  part,  started  up  with  his  club,  and  dealt  a  sound 
douse  or  two  on  each  side  of  him ;  and  then,  like  a  coach-horse 
pricked  by  the  spur,  started  off  at  once  into  the  full  career  of 
his  address,  and,  by  dint  of  active  prompting  on  the  part  of 
Dickie  Sludge,  delivered,  in  sounds  of  gigantic  intonation,  a 
speech  which  may  be  thus  abridged,  the  reader  being  to  sup- 
pose that  the  first  lines  were  addressed  to  the  throng  who  ap- 
proached the  gateway ;  the  conclusion,  at  the  approach  of  the 
Queen,  upon  sight  of  whom,  as  struck  by  some  heavenly  vision, 
the  gigantic  warder  dropped  his  club,  resigned  his  keys,  and 
gave  open  way  to  the  goddess  of  the  night  and  all  her  mag- 
nificent train : 

What  stir,  what  turmoil,  have  we  for  the  nones? 
Stand  back,  my  masters,  or  beware  your  bones  I 
Sirs,  I'm  a  warder,  and  no  man  of  straw, 
My  voice  keeps  order,  and  my  club  gives  law. 

Yet  soft — nay,  stay — what  vision  have  we  here  ? 

What  dainty  darling's  this — what  peerless  peer? 

What  loveliest  face,  that  loving  ranks  enfolds, 

Like  brightest  diamond  chased  in  purest  gold? 

Dazzled  and  blind,  mine  office  I  forsake. 

My  club,  my  key,  my  knee,  my  homage  take. 

Bright  paragon,  pass  on  in  joy  and  bliss ; — 

Beshrew  the  gate  that  opes  not  wide  at  such  a  sight  as  this  I "  * 

Elizabeth  received  most  graciously  the  homage  of  the  Her- 
culean porter,  and,  bending  her  head  to  him  in  requital, 
passed  through  his  guarded  tower,  from  the  top  of  which  was 
poured  a  clamorous  blast  of  warlike  music,  which  was  replied 
to  by  other  bands  of  minstrelsy  placed  at  different  points  on 

'  See  Imitation  of  Gascoigne.    Note  15. 


KENILWORTH.  377 

the  castle  walls,  and  by  others  again  stationed  in  the  chase ; 
while  the  tones  of  the  one,  as  they  yet  vibrated  on  the  echoes, 
were  caught  up  and  answered  by  new  harmony  from  different 
quarters. 

Amidst  these  bursts  of  music,  which,  as  if  the  work  of  en- 
chantment, seemed  now  close  at  hand,  now  softened  by  distant 
space,  now  wailing  so  low  and  sweet  as  if  that  distance  were 
gradually  j)rolonged  until  only  the  last  lingeruig  strains  could 
reach  the  ear.  Queen  Elizabeth  crossed  the  Gallery  Tower, 
and  came  upon  the  long  bridge  which  extended  from  thence  to 
Mortimer's  Tower,  and  which  was  already  as  light  as  day,  so 
many  torches  had  been  fastened  to  the  palisades  on  either  side. 
Most  of  the  nobles  here  alighted,  and  sent  their  horses  to  the 
neighbouring  village  of  Keuilworth,  following  the  Queen  on 
foot,  as  did  the  gentlemen  who  had  stood  in  array  to  receive 
her  at  the  Gallery  Tower. 

On  this  occasion,  as  at  different  times  during  the  evening, 
Kaleigh  addressed  himself  to  Tressilian,  and  was  not  a  little 
surprised  at  his  vague  and  unsatisfactory  answers;  which, 
joined  to  his  leaving  his  apartment  without  any  assigned  rea- 
son, appearing  in  an  undress  when  it  was  likely  to  be  offensive 
to  the  Queen,  and  some  other  symptoms  of  irregularity  which 
he  thought  he  discovered,  led  him  to  doubt  whether  his  friend 
did  not  labour  under  some  temporary  derangement. 

Meanwhile,  the  Queen  had  no  sooner  stepped  on  the  bridge 
than  a  new  spectacle  was  provided ;  for,  as  soon  as  the  music 
gave  signal  that  she  was  so  far  advanced,  a  raft,  so  disposed 
as  to  resemble  a  smaR  floating  island,  illuminated  by  a  great 
variety  of  torches,  and  surrounded  by  floating  pageants  forme(? 
to  represent  sea-horses,  on  which  sat  Tritons,  Nereids,  and 
other  fabulous  deities  of  the  seas  and  rivers,  made  its  appear- 
ance upon  the  lake,  and,  issuing  from  behind  a  small  heronry 
where  it  had  been  concealed,  floated  gently  towards  the  farther 
end  of  the  bridge. 

On  the  islet  appeared  a  beautiful  woman,  clad  in  a  watchet- 
coloured  silken  mantle,  boimd  with  a  broad  girdle,  inscribed 
with  characters  like  the  phylacteries  of  the  Hebrews.  Her 
feet  and  arms  were  bare,  but  her  wrists  and  ankles  were  adorned 


378  T^AVERLEY  NOVELS. 

with  gold  bracelets  of  uncommon  size.  Amidst  her  long  sillfy 
black  hair  she  wore  a  crown  or  chaplet  of  artificial  mistletoe, 
and  bore  in  her  hand  a  rod  of  ebony  tipped  with  silver.  Two 
nymphs  attended  on  her,  dressed  in  the  same  antique  and 
mystical  guise. 

The  pageant  was  so  well  managed,  that  this  Lady  of  the 
'Floating  Island,  having  performed  her  voyage  with  much  pic- 
turesque effect,  landed  at  Mortimer's  Tower,  with  her  two  at- 
tendants, just  lis  Elizabeth  presented  herself  before  that  out- 
work. The  stranger  then,  in  a  well-penned  speech,  announced 
herself  as  that  famous  Lady  of  the  Lake,  renowned  in  the 
stories  of  King  Arthur,  who  had  nursed  the  youth  of  the  re- 
doubted Sir  Lancelot,  and  whose  beauty  had  proved  too  pow- 
erful both  for  the  wisdom  and  the  spells  of  the  mighty  Merlin. 
Since  that  early  period,  she  had  remained  possessed  of  her 
crystal  dominions,  she  said,  despite  the  various  men  of  fame 
and  might  by  whom  Kenilworth  had  been  successively  tenanted. 
The  Saxons,  the  Danes,  the  Normans,  the  Saintlowes,  the 
Clintons,  the  Montforts,  the  JNIortimers,  the  Plantagenets, 
great  though  they  were  in  arms  and  magnificence,  had  never, 
she  said,  caused  her  to  raise  her  head  from  the  waters  which 
hid  her  crystal  palace.  But  a  greater  than  all  these  great 
names  had  now  appeared,  and  she  came  in  homage  and  duty 
to  welcome  the  peerless  Elizabeth  to  all  sport  which  the  castle 
and  its  environs,  which  lake  or  land,  could  afford. 

The  Queen  received  this  address  also  with  great  courtesy, 
and  made  answer  in  raillery,  "  We  thought  this  lake  had  be- 
longed to  our  own  dominions,  fair  dame;  but  smce  so  famed 
a  lady  claims  it  for  hers,  we  will  be  glad  at  some  other  time  to 
have  further  communing  with  you  touching  our  joint  inter- 
ests." 

With  this  gracious  answer,  the  Lady  of  the  Lake  vanished, 
and  Arion,  who  was  amongst  the  maritime  deities,  appeared 
upon  his  dolphin.  But  Lambourne,  who  had  taken  upon  him 
the  part  in  the  absence  of  Waylaiid,  being  chilled  with  re- 
maining immersed  in  an  element  to  which  he  was  not  friendly, 
having  never  got  his  speech  by  heart,  and  not  having,  like  the 
porter,  the  advantage  of  a  prompter,  paid  it  off  with  impu- 


KENILWORTH.  379 

dence,  tearing  off  his  vizard,  and  swearing,  "Cog's  bones!  lie 
was  none  of  Arion  or  Orion  either,  but  honest  Mike  Lam- 
bourne,  that  had  been  drinking  her  Majesty's  health  from 
morning  till  midnight,  and  was  come  to  bid  her  heartily  wel- 
come to  Kenii worth  Castle." 

This  unpremeditated  buffoonery  answered  the  purpose  prob- 
ably better  than  the  set  speech  would  have  done.  The  Queen 
laughed  heartily,  and  swore,  in  her  turn,  that  he  had  made  the 
best  speech  she  had  heard  that  day.  Lambourne,  who  in- 
stantly saw  his  jest  had  saved  his  bones,  jumped  on  shore, 
gave  his  dolphin  a  kick,  and  declared  he  would  never  meddle 
with  fish  again,  except  at  dinner. 

At  the  same  time  that  the  Queen  was  about  to  enter  the 
castle,  that  memorable  discharge  of  fireworks  by  water  and 
land  took  place,  which  Master  Laneham,  formerly  introduced 
to  the  reader,  has  strained  all  his  eloquence  to  describe. 

"  Such, "  says  the  clerk  of  the  council-chamber  door,  "  was 
the  blaze  of  burning  darts,  the  gleams  of  stars  coruscant,  the 
streams  and  hail  of  fiery  sparks,  lightnings  of  wildfire,  and 
flight-shot  of  thunderbolts,  with  continuance,  terror,  and  ve- 
hemency,  that  the  heavens  thundered,  the  waters  surged,  and 
the  earth  shook ;  and  for  my  part,  hardy  as  I  am,  it  made  m© 
very  vengeably  afraid."  ' 


CHAPTER   XXXI. 

Kay,  this  is  matter  for  the  month  of  ^Slarch, 
Wlien  hares  are  maddest.    Either  speak  iii  reason, 
Giving  cold  argument  the  wail  of  passion, 
Or  I  break  up  the  court. 

Beaumont  akd  Fletcher. 

It  is  by  no  means  our  purpose  to  detail  minutely  all  th© 
princely  festivities  of  Kenilworth,  after  the  fashion  of  Master 
Robert  Laneham,  whom  we  quoted  in  the  conclusion  of  the 
last  chapter.  It  is  sufficient  to  say  that,  under  discharge  of 
the  splendid  fireworks,  which  we  have  Ijorrowed  Laneham 'a 

>  See  Festivities  at  Kenilworth.    Xote  IG. 


380  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

eloquence  to  describe,  the  Queen  entered  the  base-court  of 
Kenilworth,  through  Mortimer's  Tower,  and  moving  on 
through  pageants  of  heathen  gods  and  heroes  of  antiquity, 
who  offered  gifts  and  compliments  on  the  bended  knee,  at 
length  found  her  way  to  the  great  hall  of  the  castle,  gorgeously 
hung  for  her  reception  with  the  richest  silken  tapestry,  misty 
with  perfumes,  and  sounding  to  strains  of  soft  and  delicious 
music.  From  the  highly  carved  oaken  roof  hung  a  superb 
chandelier  of  gilt  bronze,  formed  like  a  spread  eagle,  whose 
outstretched  wings  supported  three  male  and  three  female 
•figures,  grasping  a  pair  of  branches  in  each  hand.  The  hall 
was  thus  illuminated  by  twenty -four  torches  of  wax.  At  the 
upper  end  of  the  splendid  apartment  was  a  state  canopy,  over- 
shadowing a  royal  throne,  and  beside  it  was  a  door,  which 
opened  to  a  long  suite  of  apartments,  decorated  with  the  ut- 
m.ost  magnificence  for  the  Queen  and  her  ladies,  whenever  it 
should  be  her  pleasure  to  be  private. 

The  Earl  of  Leicester  having  handed  the  Queen  up  to  her 
throne  and  seated  her  there,  knelt  down  before  her,  and  kiss- 
ing the  hand  which  she  held  out,  with  an  air  in  which  roman- 
tic and  respectful  gallantry  was  happily  mingled  with  the 
air  of  loyal  devotion,  he  thanked  her,  in  terms  of  the  deep- 
est gratitude,  for  the  highest  honour  which  a  sovereign  could 
render  to  a  subject.  So  handsome  did  he  look  when  kneeling 
before  her,  that  Elizabeth  was  tempted  to  prolong  the  scene  a 
little  longer  than  there  was,  strictly  speaking,  necessity  for; 
and  ere  she  raised  him,  she  passed  her  hand  over  his  head,  so 
near  as  almost  to  touch  his  long  curled  and  perfumed  hair,  and 
with  a  movement  of  fondness,  that  seemed  to  intimate  she 
would,  if  she  dared,  have  made  the  motion  a  slight  caress. ' 

She  at  length  raised  him ;  and,  standing  beside  the  throne, 
lie  explained  to  her  the  various  preparations  which  had  been, 
made  for  her  amusement  and  accommodation,  all  of  which  re- 
ceived her  prompt  and  gracious  approbation.  The  earl  then 
prayed  her  Majesty  for  permission  that  he  himself,  and  the 
nobles  who  had  been  in  attendance  upon  her  during  the 
journey,  might  retire  for  a  few  minutes,  and  put  themselves 

*  See  Elizabeth  and  Leicester.    Note  17. 


KENILWORTH.  381 

Into  a  guise  more  fitting  for  dutiful  attendance,  during  which, 
space,  those  gentlemen  of  worship  (pointing  to  Varney, 
Blount,  Tressilian,  and  others),  who  had  already  put  them- 
selves into  fresh  attii-e,  would  have  the  honour  of  keeping  her 
presence-chamber. 

"Be  it  so,  my  lord,"  answered  the  Queen;  "you  could  man- 
age a  theatre  well,  who  can  thus  command  a  double  set  of 
actors.  For  ourselves,  we  will  receive  your  courtesies  this 
evening  but  clownishly,  since  it  is  not  our  purpose  to  change 
our  riding  attire,  bemg  iu  effect  something  fatigued  with  a 
journey  which  the  concourse  of  our  good  people  hath  rendered 
slow,  though  the  love  they  have  shown  our  person  hath,  at  the 
eame  time,  made  it  delightful." 

Leicester,  having  received  this  permission,  retired  accord- 
ingly, and  was  followed  by  those  nobles  who  had  attended  the 
Queen  to  Kenilworth  in  person.  The  gentlemen  who  had  pre- 
ceded them,  and  were  of  course  dressed  for  the  solemnity, 
remained  in  attendance.  But  being  most  of  them  of  rather 
inferior  rank,  they  remained  at  an  awful  distance  from  the 
throne  which  Elizabeth  occupied.  The  Queen's  sharj)  eye 
soon  distinguished  Kaleigh  amongst  them,  with  one  or  two 
others  who  were  personally  known  to  her,  and  she  instantly 
made  them  a  sign  to  approach,  and  accosted  them  very  gra- 
ciously. Raleigh,  in  particular,  the  adventure  of  whose  cloak, 
as  well  as  the  incident  of  the  verses,  remained  on  her  mind, 
was  very  graciously  received;  and  to  him  she  most  frequently 
applied  for  information  concerning  the  names  and  rank  of 
those  who  were  in  presence.  These  he  communicated  con- 
cisely, and  not  without  some  traits  of  humorous  satire,  by 
which  Elizabeth  seemed  much  amused.  "  And  who  is  yonder 
clownish  fellow?"  she  said,  looking  at  Tressilian,  whose  soiled 
dress  on  this  occasion  greatly  obscured  his  good  mien. 

"A  poet,  if  it  please  your  Grace,"  replied  Raleigh. 

"I  might  have  guessed  that  from  his  careless  garb,"  said 
Elizabeth.  "  I  have  known  some  poets  so  thoughtless  as  to 
throw  their  cloaks  into  gutters." 

"  It  must  have  been  when  the  sun  dazzled  both  their  eyes 
and  their  judgment,"  answered  Raleigh. 


382  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

Elizabeth  smiled,  and  proceeded:  "I  asked  that  slovenly^'' 
fellow's  name,  and  you  only  told  me  his  profession." 

"  Tressilian  is  his  name, "  said  Raleigh,  with  internal  reluc- 
tance, for  he  foresaw  nothing  favourable  to  his  friend  from  the 
manner  in  which  she  took  notice  of  him. 

"Tressilian!"  answered  Elizabeth.  "Oh,  the  Menelaus  of 
our  romance.  Why,  he  has  dressed  himself  in  a  guise  that 
will  go  far  to  exculpate  his  fair  and  false  Helen.  And  where 
is  Farnham,  or  whatever  his  name  is — my  Lord  of  Leicester's 
man,  I  mean — the  Paris  of  this  Devonshire  tale?" 

With  still  greater  reluctance,  Ealeigh  named  and  pointed 
out  to  her  Varney,  for  whom  the  tailor  had  done  all  that  art 
could  perform  in  making  his  exterior  agreeable ;  and  who,  if 
he  had  not  grace,  had  a  sort  of  tact  and  habitual  knowledge 
of  breeding  which  came  in  place  of  it. 

The  Queen  turned  her  eye  from  the  one  to  the  other.  "  I 
doubt,"  she  said,  "this  same  poetical  Master  Tressilian,  who 
is  too  learned,  I  warrant  me,  to  remember  what  presence  he 
was  to  appear  in,  may  be  one  of  those  of  whom  Geoffrey 
Chaucer  says  wittily,  the  wisest  clerks  are  not  the  wisest  men. 
I  remember  that  Varney  is  a  smooth-tongued  varlet.  I  doubt 
this  fair  runaway  hath  had  reasons  for  breaking  her  faith.  '• 

To  this  Raleigh  durst  make  no  answer,  aware  how  little  he 
should  benefit  Tressilian  by  contradicting  the  Queen's  senti- 
ments, and  not  at  all  certain,  on  the  whole,  whether  the  best 
thing  that  could  befall  him  would  not  be  that  she  should  put 
an  end  at  once  by  her  authority  to  this  affair,  upon  which  it 
seemed  to  him  Tressilian' s  thoughts  were  fixed  Vv^th  unavail- 
ing and  distressing  pertinacity.  As  these  reflections  passed 
through  his  active  brain,  the  lower  door  was  opened,  and 
Leicester,  accompanied  by  several  of  his  kinsmen  and  of  the 
nobles  who  had  embraced  his  faction,  re-entered  the  castle 
haU. 

The  favourite  earl  was  now  apparelled  all  in  white,  his 
shoes  being  of  white  velvet;  his  understocks,  or  stockings,  of 
knit  silk ;  his  upper  stocks  of  white  velvet,  lined  with  cloth  of 
silver,  which  was  shown  at  the  slashed  x^art  of  the  middle 
thigh ;  his  doublet  of  cloth  of  silver,  the  close  jerkin  of  white 


KENILWORTH.  383 

velvet,  embroidered  with  silver  and  seed-pearl,  liis  girdle  and 
the  scabbard  of  his  sword  of  white  velvet  with  golden  buckles } 
his  poniard  and  sword  hilted  and  mounted  with  gold;  and 
over  all,  a  rich  loose  robe  of  white  satin,  with  a  border  of 
golden  embroidery  a  foot  in  breadth.  The  collar  of  the 
Garter,  and  the  azure  Garter  itself  around  his  knee,  completed 
the  appointments  of  the  Earl  of  Leicester ;  which  were  so  well 
matched  by  his  fair  stature,,  graceful  gesture,  fine  proportion 
of  body,  and  handsome  countenance,  that  at  that  moment  he 
was  admitted  by  all  who  saw  him  as  the  goodliest  person 
whom  they  had  ever  looked  upon,  Sussex  and  the  other 
nobles  were  also  richly  attired ;  but,  in  point  of  splendour  and 
gracefulness  of  mien,  Leicester  far  exceeded  them  all. 

Elizabeth  received  him  with  great  complacency.  "  We  have 
one  picee  of  royal  justice,"  she  said^  "to  attend  to.  It  is  a 
piece  of  justice,  too,  which  interests  us  as  a  woman,  as  well 
as  in  the  character  of  mother  and  guardian  of  the  English 
people." 

An  involuntary  shudder  came  over  Leicester,  as  he  bowed 
low,  expressive  of  his  readiness  to  receive  her  royal  commands  ;■ 
and  a  similar  cold  fit  came  over  Varney,  whose  eyes  (seldom 
during  that  evening  removed  from  his  patron)  instantly  per- 
ceived, from  the  change  in  his  looks,  slight  as  that  was,  of 
what  the  Queen  was  speaking.  But  Leicester  had  wrought 
his  resolution  up  to  the  point  which,  in  his  crooked  policy,  he 
judged  necessary;  and  when  Elizabeth  added:  "It  is  of  the 
matter  of  Varney  and  Tressilian  we  speak;  is  the  lady  in 
presence,  my  lord?"  His  answer  was  ready:  "Gracious 
madam,  she  is  not." 

Elizabeth  bent  her  brows  and  compressed  her  lips.  "  Our 
orders  were  strict  and  positive,  my  lord, "  was  her  answer 

"And  should  have  been  obeyed,  good  my  liege,"  replied 
Leicester,  "  had  they  been  expressed  in  the  form  of  the  light- 
est wish.  But — ^Varney,  step  forward — this  gentleman  will 
inform  your  Grace  of  the  cause  why  the  lady  (he  could  not 
force  his  rebellious  tongue  to  utter  the  words  "  his  wife")  can- 
not attend  on  your  royal  presence." 

Varney  advanced,  and  pleaded  with  readiness,  what  indeed 


S84  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

lie  firmly  believed,  the  absolute  incapacity  of  the  party  (for 
neither  did  he  dare,  in  Leicester's  presence,  term  her  his  wife) 
to  wait  on  her  Grace. 

"Here"  said  he,  "are  attestations  from  a  most  learned 
physician,  whose  skill  and  honour  are  well  known  to  my  good 
Lord  of  Leicester ;  and  from  an  honest  and  devout  Protestant, 
a  man  of  credit  and  substance,  one  Anthony  Foster,  the  gentle- 
man in  whose  house  she  is  at  present  bestowed,  that  she  now 
labours  under  an  illness  which  altogether  unfits  her  for  such 
a  journey  as  betwixt  this  castle  and  the  neighbourhood  of 
Oxford." 

"  This  alters  the  matter, "  said  the  Queen,  taking  the  certifi- 
cates in  her  hand,  and  glancing  at  their  contents.  "  Let  Tres^ 
silian  come  forward.  Master  Tressilian,  we  have  much  sym- 
pathy for  j^our  situation,  the  rather  that  you  seem  to  have  set 
your  heart  deeply  on  this  Amy  Robsart  or  Varney.  Our 
power,  thanks  to  God  and  the  willing  obedience  of  a  loving 
people,  is  worth  much,  but  there  are  some  things  which  it 
cannot  compass.  We  cannot,  for  example,  command  the 
affections  of  a  giddy  young  girl,  or  make  her  love  sense  and 
learning  better  than  a  courtier's  fine  doublet;  and  we  cannot 
control  sickness,  with  which  it  seems  this  lady  is  afflicted, 
who  may  not,  by  reason  of  such  infirmity,  attend  our  court 
here,  as  we  had  required  her  to  do.  Here  are  the  testimonials 
of  the  physician  who  hath  her  under  his  charge,  and  the  gentle- 
man in  whose  house  she  resides,  so  setting  forth." 

"Under  your  Majesty's  favour,"  said  Tressilian  hastily, 
and,  in  his  alarm  for  the  consequence  of  the  imposition  prac- 
tised on  the  Queen,  forgetting,  in  part  at  least,  his  own 
promise  to  Amy,  "  these  certificates  speak  not  the  truth. " 

"  How,  sir !"  said  the  Queen.  "  Impeach  my  Lord  of  Leices- 
ter's veracity!  But  you  shall  have  a  fair  hearing.  In  our 
presence  the  meanest  of  our  subjects  shall  be  heard  against 
the  proudest,  and  the  least  known  agamst  the  most  favoured; 
therefore  you  shall  be  heard  fairly,  but  beware  you  speak  not 
without  a  warrant !  Take  these  certificates  in  your  own  hand ; 
look,  at  them  carefully,  and  say  manfully  if  you  impugn  tha 
truth  of  them,  and  upon  what  evidence." 


KENILWORTH.  385 

As  the  Queen  spoke,  his  promise  and  all  its  consequences 
rushed  on  the  mind  of  the  unfortunate  Tressilian,  and  while 
it  controlled  his  natural  inclination  to  pronounce  that  a  false- 
hood which  he  knew  from  the  evidence  of  his  senses  to  be 
untrue,  gave  an  indecision  and  irresolution  to  his  appearance 
and  utterance,  which  made  strongly  against  him  in  the  mind 
of  Elizabeth,  as  well  as  of  all  who  beheld  him.  He  turned 
the  papers  over  and  over,  as  if  he  had  been  an  idiot,  incapable 
of  comprehending  their  contents.  The  Queen's  impatience 
began  to  become  visible.  "  You  are  a  scholar,  sir, "  she  said, 
"  and  of  some  note,  as  I  have  heard ;  yet  you  seem  wondrous 
slow  in  reading  text-hand.  How  say  you,  are  these  certifi- 
cates true  or  no?" 

"Madam,"  said  Tressilian,  with  obvious  embarrassment 
and  hesitation,  anxious  to  avoid  admitting  evidence  which  he 
might  afterwards  have  reason  to  confute,  yet  equally  desirous 
to  keep  his  word  to  Amy,  and  to  give  her,  as  he  had  promised, 
space  to  plead  her  own  cause  in  her  own  way — "madam — 
madam,  your  Grace  calls  on  me  to  admit  evidence  which  ought 
to  be  proved  valid  by  those  who  found  their  defence  upon  it." 

"Why,  Tressilian,  thou  art  critical  as  well  as  poetical," 
said  the  Queen,  bending  on  him  a  brow  of  displeasure ;  "  me- 
thinks  these  writings,  being  produced  in  the  presence  of  the 
noble  earl  to  whom  this  castle  pertains,  and  his  honour  being 
appealed  to  as  the  guarantee  of  their  authenticity,  might  be 
evidence  enough  for  thee.  But  since  thou  lists  to  be  so  for- 
mal— Varney,  or  rather  my  Lord  of  Leicester,  for  the  affair 
becomes  yours  (these  words,  though  spoken  at  random,  thrilled 
through  the  earl's  marrow  and  bones),  what  evidence  have 
you  as  touching  these  certificates?" 

Varney  hastened  to  reply,  preventing  Leicester :  "  So  please 
your  Majesty,  my  young  Lord  of  Oxford,  who  is  here  in  pres- 
ence, knows  Master  Anthony  Foster's  hand  and  his  character.'^ 

The  Earl  of  Oxford,  a  young  unthrift,  whom  Foster  had 
more  than  once  accommodated  with  loans  on  usurious  interest, 
acknowledged,  on  this  appeal,  that  he  knew  him  as  a  wealthy 
and  independent  franklin,  supposed  to  be  worth  much  money, 
and  verified  the  certificate  produced  to  be  his  handwriting. 
25 


386  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

"And  who  speaks  to  the  doctor's  certificate?"  said  the 
Queen.     "  Alasco,  methinks,  is  his  name." 

Masters,  her  Majesty's  physician  (not  the  less  willingly  that 
he  remembered  his  repulse  from  Say's  Court,  and  thought  that 
his  present  testimony  might  gratify  Leicester,  and  mortify  the 
Earl  of  Sussex  and  his  faction),  acknowledged  he  had  more 
than  once  consulted  with  Doctor  Alasco,  and  spoke  of  him  as 
a  man  of  extraordinary  learning  and  hidden  acquirements, 
though  not  altogether  in  the  regular  course  of  practice.  The 
Earl  of  Huntingdon,  Lord  Leicester's  brother-in-law,  and  the 
old  Coimtess  of  Rutland,  next  sang  his  praises,  and  both  re- 
membered the  thin,  beautiful  Italian  hand  in  which  he  was 
wont  to  write  his  receipts,  and  which  corresponded  to  the  cer- 
tificate produced  as  his. 

"  And  uow,  I  trust,  Master  Tressilian,  this  matter  is  ended, " 
said  the  Queen.  "  We  will  do  something  ere  the  night  is  older 
to  reconcile  old  Sir  Hugh  Robsart  to  the  match.  You  have 
done  your  duty  something  more  than  boldly ;  but  we  were  no 
woman  had  we  not  compassion  for  the  wounds  which  true  love 
deals ;  so  we  forgive  your  audacity,  and  your  uncleansed  boots 
withal,  which  have  weUnigh  overpowered  my  Lord  of  Lei- 
cester's perfumes." 

So  spoke  Elizabeth,  whose  nicety  of  scent  was  one  of  the 
characteristics  of  her  organisation,  as  appeared  long  afterwards 
when  she  expelled  Essex  from  her  presence  on  a  charge  against 
his  boots  similar  to  that  which  she  now  expressed  agaiust 
those  of  Tressilian. 

But  Tressilian  had  by  this  time  collected  himself,  aston- 
ished as  he  had  at  first  been  by  the  audacity  of  the  falsehood 
so  feasibly  supported,  and  placed  in  array  against  the  evidence 
of  his  own  eyes.  He  rushed  forward,  kneeled  down,  and 
caught  the  Queen  by  the  skirt  of  her  robe.  "  As  you  are 
Christian  woman,"  he  said,  "madam,  as  you  are  crowned 
queen,  to  do  equal  justice  among  your  subjects — as  you  hope 
yourself  to  have  fair  hearing — which  God  grant  you — at  that 
last  bar  at  which  we  must  all  plead,  grant  me  one  small  re- 
quest! Decide  not  this  matter  so  hastily.  Give  me  but 
twenty-four  hours'   interval,  and  I  will,  at  the  end  of  that 


KENILWORTH.  387 

brief  space,  produce  evidence  whicli  will  show  to  demonstra- 
tion that  these  certificates,  which  state  this  unhappy  lady  to 
be  now  ill  at  ease  in  Oxfordshire,  are  false  as  hell!" 

"Let  go  my  train,  sir!"  said  Elizabeth,  who  was  startled 
at  his  vehemence,  though  she  had  too  much  of  lion  in  her  to 
fear.  "  The  fellow  must  be  distraught ;  that  witty  knave,  my 
godson  Harrington,  must  have  him  into  his  rhymes  of  Or- 
lando Furioso!  And  yet,  by  this  light,  there  is  something 
strange  in  the  vehemence  of  his  demand.  Speak,  Tressilianj 
what  wilt  thou  do  if,  at  the  end  of  these  four-and-twenty 
hours,  thou  canst  not  confute  a  fact  so  solemnly  proved  as 
this  lady's  illness?" 

"  I  will  lay  down  my  head  on  the  block, "  answered  Tres- 
silian. 

"Pshaw!"  replied  the  Queen.  "God's  light!  thouspeak'st 
like  a  fool.  What  head  falls  in  England  but  by  just  sentence 
of  English  law?  I  ask  thee,  man — if  thou  hast  sense  to  un- 
derstand me — wilt  thou,  if  thou  shalt  fail  in  this  improbable 
attempt  of  thine,  render  me  a  good  and  sufi&cient  reason  why 
thou  dost  undertake  it?" 

Tressilian  paused,  and  again  hesitated;  because  he  felt  con- 
vmced  that  if,  within  the  interval  demanded,  Amy  should  be- 
come reconciled  to  her  husband,  he  would  in  that  case  do  her 
the  worst  of  offices  by  again  ripping  up  the  whole  circum- 
stances before  Elizabeth,  and  showing  how  that  wise  and 
jealous  princess  had  been  imposed  upon  by  false  testimonials. 
The  consciousness  of  this  dilemma  renewed  his  extreme  em- 
barrassment of  look,  voice,  and  manner ;  he  hesitated,  looked 
down,  and  on  the  Queen  repeating  her  question  with  a  stern 
voice  and  flashing  eye,  he  admitted  with  faltering  words, 
"  That  it  might  be — he  could  not  positively — that  is,  in  certain 
events — explain  the  reasons  and  grounds  on  which  he  acted.'* 

"  Now,  by  the  soul  of  King  Henry, "  said  the  Queen,  "  this 
is  either  moonstruck  madness  or  very  knavery !  Seest  thou, 
Ealeigh,  thy  friend  is  far  too  Pindaric  for  this  presence. 
Have  him  away,  and  make  us  quit  of  him,  or  it  shall  be  the 
worse  for  him;  for  his  flights  are  too  unbridled  for  any  place 
but  Parnassus  or  St.  Luke's  Hospital.     But  come  back  in.- 


888  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

stantly  thyself,  when  he  is  placed  under  fitting  restraint.  We 
"wish  we  had  seen  the  beauty  which  could  make  such  havoc  in 
a  wise  man's  brain," 

Tressilian  was  agam  endeavouring  to  address  the  Queen, 
when  Ealeigh,  in  obedience  to  the  orders  he  had  received,  in- 
terfered, and,  with  Blount's  assistance,  half -led,  half -forced 
him  out  of  the  presence-chamber,  where  he  himself  indeed 
began  to  think  his  appearance  did  his  cause  more  harm  than 
good. 

When  they  had  attained  the  antechamber,  Kaleigh  entreated 
Blount  to  see  Tressilian  safely  conducted  into  the  apartments 
alloted  to  the  Earl  of  Sussex's  followers,  and,  if  necessary, 
recommended  that  a  guard  should  be  mounted  on  him. 

"  This  extravagant  passion, "  he  said,  "  and,  as  it  would 
seem,  the  news  of  the  lady's  illness,  has  utterly  wrecked  his 
excellent  judgment.  But  it  will  pass  away  if  he  be  kept  quiet. 
Only  let  him  break  forth  again  at  no  rate ;  for  he  is  already 
far  in  her  Highness 's  displeasure,  and  should  she  be  again 
provoked,  she  will  find  for  him  a  worse  place  of  confinement 
and  sterner  keepers." 

"I  judged  as  much  as  that  he  was  mad,"  said  Nicholas 
Blount,  looking  down  upon  his  own  crimson  stockings  and 
yellow  roses,  "  whenever  I  saw  him  wearing  yonder  damned 
boots,  which  stunk  so  in  her  nostrils.  I  will  but  see  him 
stowed,  and  be  back  with  you  presently.  But,  Walter,  did 
the  Queen  ask  who  I  was?  Methought  she  glanced  an  eye 
at  me." 

"  Twenty — twenty  eye-glances  she  sent,  and  I  told  her  all 

how  thou  wert  a  brave  soldier,  and  a But  for   God's 

sake,  get  off  Tressilian!" 

"  I  will — I  will, "  said  Blount ;  "  but  methinks  this  court- 
haunting  is  no  such  bad  pastime,  after  all.  We  shall  rise  by 
it,  Walter,  my  brave  lad.  Thou  said'st  I  was  a  good  soldier, 
and  a What  besides,  dearest  Walter?" 

"An  all  unutterable — cod's-head.  For  God's  sake,  be- 
gone!" 

Tressilian,  without  farther  resistance  or  expostulation,  fol- 
lowed, or  rather  suffered  himself  to  be  conducted  by  Blount  to 


J-     KENILWORTH.  389 

Raleigh's  lodgings,  where  he  was  formally  installed  into  a 
small  truckle-bed,  placed  in  a  wardrobe  and  designed  for  a 
domestic.  He  saw  but  too  plainly  that  no  remonstrances 
would  avail  to  procure  the  help  or  sympathy  of  his  friends, 
until  the  lapse  of  the  time  for  which  he  had  pledged  himself 
to  remain  inactive  should  enable  him  either  to  explain  the 
whole  circumstances  to  them,  or  remove  from  him  every  pre- 
text or  desire  of  farther  interference  with  the  fortvmes  of 
Amy,  by  her  having  found  means  to  place  herself  in  a  state 
of  reconciliation  with  her  husband. 

With  great  difficulty,  and  only  by  the  most  patient  and  mild 
remonstrances  with  Blount,  he  escaped  the  disgrace  and  mor- 
tification of  having  two  of  Sussex's  stoutest  yeomen  quartered 
in  his  apartment.  At  last,  however,  when  Nicholas  had  seen 
him  fairly  deposited  in  his  truckle-bed,  and  had  bestowed  one 
or  two  hearty  kicks,  and  as  hearty  curses,  on  the  boots, 
which,  in  his  lately  acquired  spirit  of  foppery,  he  considered 
as  a  strong  symptom,  if  not  the  cause,  of  his  friend's  malady, 
he  contented  himself  with  the  modified  measure  of  locking  the 
door  on  the  unfortunate  Tressilian,  whose  gallant  and  disin- 
terested efforts  to  save  a  female  who  had  treated  him  with  in- 
gratitude thus  terminated,  for  the  present,  in  the  displeasure 
of  his  sovereign,  and  the  conviction  of  his  friends  that  he  was 
little  better  than  a  madman. 


CHAPTER   XXXII. 


The  wisest  sovereigns  err  like  private  men, 

And  royal  hand  has  sometimes  laid  the  sword 

Of  chivalry  upon  a  worthless  shoulder, 

Which  better  had  been  branded  by  the  hangman. 

What  then  ?    Kings  do  their  best ;  and  they  and  we 

Must  answer  for  the  intent,  and  not  the  event. 

Old  Play. 

"  It  is  a  melancholy  matter, "  said  the  Queen,  when  Tres- 
silian was  withdrawn,  "to  see  a  wise  and  learned  man's  wit 
thus  pitifully  unsettled.  Yet  this  public  display  of  his  imper- 
fection of  brain  plainly  shows  us  that  his  supposed  injury  and 


390  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

accusation  were  fruitless ;  and  therefore,  my  Lord  of  Leices- 
ter, we  remember  your  suit  formerly  made  to  us  in  behalf 
of  your  faithful  servant  Varney,  whose  good  gifts  and  fidelity, 
as  they  are  useful  to  you,  ought  to  have  due  reward  from  us, 
knowing  well  that  your  lordship,  and  all  you  have,  are  so  ear- 
nestly devoted  to  our  service.  And  we  render  Varney  the 
honour  more  especially  that  we  are  a  guest,  and  we  fear  a 
chargeable  and  troublesome  one,  under  your  lordship's  roof; 
and  also  for  the  satisfaction  of  the  good  old  knight  of  Devon, 
Sir  Hugh  Eobsart,  whose  daughter  he  hath  married ;  and  we 
trust  the  especial  mark  of  grace  which  we  are  about  to  confer 
may  reconcile  him  to  his  son-in-law.  Your  sword,  my  Lord 
of  Leicester." 

The  earl  unbuckled  his  sword,  and,  taking  it  by  the  point, 
presented  on  bended  knee  the  hilt  to  Elizabeth. 

She  took  it  slowly,  drew  it  from  the  scabbard,  and  while 
the  ladies  who  stood  around  turned  away  their  eyes  with  real 
or  affected  shuddering,  she  noted  with  a  curious  eye  the  high 
polish  and  rich  damasked  ornaments  upon  the  glittering  blade. 

"  Had  I  been  a  man, "  she  said,  "  methinks  none  of  my  an- 
cestors would  have  loved  a  good  sword  better.  As  it  is  with 
me,  I  like  to  look  on  one,  and  could,  like  the  fairy  of  whom  I 
have  read  in  some  Italian  rhymes — were  my  godson  Har- 
rington here,  he  could  tell  me  the  passage' — even  trim  my  hair 
and  arrange  my  head-gear  in  such  a  steel  mirror  as  this  is. 
Kichard  Varney,  come  forth  and  kneel  down.  In  the  name  of 
God  and  St.  George,  we  dub  thee  knight !  Be  faithful,  brave, 
and  fortunate.     Arise,  Sir  Richard  Varney," 

Varney  arose  and  retired,  making  a  deep  obeisance  to  the 
sovereign  who  had  done  him  so  much  honour. 

"  The  buckling  of  the  spur,  and  what  other  rites  remain, " 
said  the  Queen,  "may  be  finished  to-morrow  in  the  chapel; 
for  we  intend  Sir  Richard  Varney  a  companion  in  his  honours. 
And  as  we  must  not  be  partial  in  conferring  such  distinction, 
we  mean  on  this  matter  to  confer  with  our  cousin  of  Sussex." 

That  noble  earl,  who,  since  his  arrival  at  Kenilworth,  and 
indeed  since  the  commencement  of  this  progress,  had  found 

*  See  Italian  Poetry.    Note  IS, 


KENILWORTH.  391 

himself  in  a  subordinate  situation  to  Leicester,  was  now  wear- 
ing a  heavy  cloud  on  his  brow — a  circumstance  which  had  not 
escaped  the  Queen,  who  hoped  to  appease  his  discontent,  and 
to  follow  out  her  system  of  balancing  policy,  by  a  mark  of 
peculiar  favour,  the  more  gratif^dng  as  it  was  tendered  at  a 
moment  when  his  rival's  triumph  appeared  to  be  complete. 

At  the  summons  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  Sussex  hastily  ap- 
proached her  person;  and  being  asked  on  which  of  his  fol- 
lowers, being  a  gentleman  and  of  merit,  he  would  wish  the 
honour  of  knighthood  to  be  conferred,  he  answered,  with  more 
sincerity  than  policy,  that  he  would  have  ventured  to  speak 
for  Tressilian,  to  whom  he  conceived  he  owed  his  own  life, 
and  who  was  a  distinguished  soldier  and  scholar,  besides  a 
man  of  unstained  lineage,  "only,"  he  said,  "he  feared  the 
events  of  that  night "  and  then  he  stopped. 

"  I  am  glad  your  lordship  is  thus  considerate, "  said  Eliza- 
beth ;  "  the  events  of  this  night  would  make  us,  in  the  eyes  of 
our  subjects,  as  mad  as  this  poor  brain-sick  gentleman  himself 
— for  we  ascribe  his  conduct  to  no  malice — should  we  choose 
this  moment  to  do  him  grace." 

"In  that  case,"  said  the  Earl  of  Sussex,  somewhat  dis- 
countenanced, "  your  Majesty  will  allow  me  to  name  my  master 
of  the  horse.  Master  Nicholas  Blount,  a  gentleman  of  fair 
estate  and  ancient  name,  who  has  served  your  Majesty  both  in 
Scotland  and  Ireland,  and  brought  away  bloody  marks  on  his 
person,  all  honourably  taken  and  requited." 

The  Queen  could  not  help  shrugging  her  shoulders  slightly 
even  at  this  second  suggestion ;  and  the  Duchess  of  Kutland, 
who  read  in  the  Queen's  manner  that  she  had  expected  Sussex 
would  have  named  Ealeigh,  and  thus  would  have  enabled  her 
to  gratify  her  own  wish  while  she  honoured  his  recommenda- 
tion, only  waited  the  Queen's  assent  to  what  he  had  proposed, 
and  then  said,  that  she  hoped,  since  these  two  high  nobles  had 
been  each  permitted  to  suggest  a  candidate  for  the  honotxrs  of 
chivalry,  she,  in  behalf  of  the  ladies  in  presence,  might  have 
a  similar  indulgence. 

"I  were  no  woman  to  refuse  you  such  a  boon,"  said  the 
Queen,  smiling. 


392  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

"  Then, "  pursued  the  duchess,  "  in  the  name  of  these  fail 
ladies  present,  I  request  your  Majesty  to  confer  the  rank  of 
knighthood  on  Walter  Raleigh,  whose  birth,  deeds  of  arms, 
and  promptitude  to  serve  our  sex  with  sword  or  pen,  deserve 
such  distinction  from  us  all." 

"  Gramercy,  fair  ladies, "  said  Elizabeth,  smiling,  "  your 
boon  is  granted,  and  the  gentle  squire  Lack-Coat  shall  become 
the  good  knight  Lack-Coat  at  your  desire.  Let  the  two  aspi- 
rants for  the  honour  of  chivalry  step  forward." 

Blount  was  not  as  yet  returned  from  seeing  Tressilian,  as  he 
conceived,  safely  disposed  of;  but  Raleigh  came  forth,  and, 
kneeling  down,  received  at  the  hand  of  the  Virgin  Queen  that 
title  of  honour,  which  was  never  conferred  on  a  more  distin- 
guished or  more  illustrious  object. 

Shortly  afterwards,  Nicholas  Blount  entered,  and,  hastily 
apprized  by  Sussex,  who  met  him  at  the  door  of  the  hall,  of 
the  Queen's  gracious  purpose  regarding  him,  he  was  desired  to 
advance  towards  the  throne.  It  is  a  sight  sometimes  seen, 
and  it  is  both  ludicrous  and  pitiable,  when  an  honest  man  of 
plain  common  sense  is  surprised,  by  the  coquetry  of  a  pretty 
woman  or  any  other  cause,  into  those  frivolous  fopperies  which 
only  sit  well  upon  the  youthful,  the  gay,  and  those  to  whom 
long  practice  has  rendered  them  a  second  nature.  Poor  Blount 
was  in  this  situation.  His  head  was  already  giddy  from  a 
consciousness  of  unusual  finery,  and  the  supposed  necessity  of 
suiting  his  manners  to  the  gaiety  of  his  dress ;  and  now  this 
sudden  view  of  promotion  altogether  completed  the  conquest  of 
the  newly  inhaled  spirit  of  foppery  over  his  natural  disposi- 
tion, and  converted  a  plain,  honest,  awkward  man  into  a  cox- 
comb of  a  new  and  most  ridiculous  kind. 

The  knight-expectant  advanced  up  the  hall,  the  whole 
length  of  which  he  had  unfortunately  to  traverse,  turning  out 
his  toes  with  so  much  zeal  that  he  presented  his  leg  at  every 
step  with  its  broad  side  foremost,  so  that  it  greatly  resembled 
an  old-fashioned  table-knife  with  a  curved  point,  when  seen 
sideways.  The  rest  of  his  gait  was  in  correspondence  with 
this  unhappy  amble ;  and  the  implied  mixture  of  bashful  fear 
and  self-satisfaction  was  so  unutterably  ridiculous  that  Leices- 


KENILWORTH.  893 

ter's  friends  did  not  suppress  a  titter,  in  which  many  of  Sus- 
sex's partizans  were  unable  to  resist  joining,  though  ready 
to  eat  their  nails  with  mortification.  Sussex  himself  lost  all 
patience,  and  could  not  forbear  whispering  into  the  ear  of  his 
friend,  "  Curse  thee !  canst  thou  not  walk  like  a  man  and  a 
soldier?"  an  interjection  which  only  made  honest  Blount  start 
and  stop,  until  a  glance  at  his  yellow  roses  and  crimson  stock- 
ings restored  his  self-confidence,  when  on  he  went  at  the  same 
pace  as  before. 

The  Queen  conferred  on  poor  Blount  the  honour  of  knight- 
hood with  a  marked  sense  of  reluctance.  That  wise  princess 
was  fully  aware  of  the  propriety  of  using  great  circumspection 
and  economy  in  bestowing  these  titles  of  honour,  which  the 
Stuarts,  who  succeeded  to  her  throne,  distributed  with  an 
imprudent  liberality  which  greatly  dimiuished  their  value. 
Blount  had  no  sooner  arisen  and  retired  than  she  turned  to 
the  Duchess  of  Kutland.  "  Our  woman  wit, "  she  said,  "  dear 
Rutland,  is  sharper  than  that  of  those  proud  things  in  doublet 
and  hose.  Seest  thou,  out  of  these  three  knights,  thine  is  the 
only  true  metal  to  stamp  chivalry's  imprint  upon?" 

"  Sir  Richard  Varney,  surely — the  friend  of  my  Lord  of 
Leicester — surely  he  has  merit,"  replied  the  duchess. 

"  Varney  has  a  sly  countenance  and  a  smooth  tongue, "  re- 
plied the  Queen.  "  I  fear  me,  he  will  prove  a  knave ;  but  the 
promise  was  of  ancient  standing.  My  Lord  of  Sussex  must 
have  lost  his  own  wits,  I  think,  to  recommend  to  us  first  a 
madman  like  Tressilian  and  then  a  clownish  fool  like  this 
other  fellow.  I  protest,  Rutland,  that  while  he  sat  on  his 
knees  before  me,  mopping  and  mowing  as  if  he  had  scalding 
porridge  in  his  mouth,  I  had  much  ado  to  forbear  cutting  him 
over  the  pate,  instead  of  striking  his  shoulder." 

"Your  Majesty  gave  him  a  smart  accolade,"  said  the 
duchess;  "we  who  stood  behind  heard  the  blade  clatter 
on  his  collar-bone,  and  the  poor  man  fidgeted  too  as  if  he 
felt  it." 

"I  could  not  help  it,  wench,"  said  the  Queen,  laughing; 
"  but  we  will  have  this  same  Sir  Nicholas  sent  to  Ireland  or 
Scotland,  or  somewhere,  to  rid  our  court  of  so  antic  a  chevalier  j 


394  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

he  may  be  a  good  soldier  iu  the  field,  though  a  preposterous 
ass  in  a  banqueting-hall." 

The  discourse  became  then  more  general,  and  soon  after 
there  was  a  summons  to  the  banquet. 

In  order  to  obey  this  signal,  the  company  were  under  the 
necessity  of  crossing  the  inner  court  of  the  castle,  that  they 
might  reach  the  new  buildings,  containing  the  large  banquet- 
ing-room,  in  which  preparations  for  supper  were  made  upon 
a  scale  of  profuse  magnificence  corresponding  to  the  occasion. 

The  livery  cupboards  were  loaded  with  plate  of  the  richest 
description,  and  the  most  varied;  some  articles  tasteful,  some 
perhaps  grotesque,  in  the  invention  and  decoration,  but  all 
gorgeously  magnificent,  both  from  the  richness  of  the  work 
and  value  of  the  materials.  Thus  the  chief  table  was  adorned 
by  a  salt,  ship-fashion,  made  of  mother-of-pearl,  garnished 
with  silver  and  divers  warlike  ensigns,  and  other  ornaments, 
anchors,  sails,  and  sixteen  pieces  of  ordnance.  It  bore  a 
figure  of  Fortune,  placed  on  a  globe,  with  a  flag  in  her  hand. 
Another  salt  was  fashioned  of  silver,  in  the  form  of  a  swan  in 
full  sail.  That  chivalry  might  not  be  omitted  amid  this 
splendour,  a  silver  St.  George  was  presented,  mounted  and 
equipped  in  the  usual  fashion  in  which  he  bestrides  the  dragon. 
The  figures  were  moulded  to  be  in  some  sort  useful.  The 
horse's  tail  was  managed  to  hold  a  case  of  knives,  while  the 
breast  of  the  dragon  presented  a  similar  accommodation  for 
oyster  knives.* 

In  the  course  of  the  passage  from  the  hall  of  reception  to 
the  banqueting-room,  and  especially  in  the  courtyard,  the  new- 
made  knights  were  assailed  by  the  heralds,  pursuivants,  min- 
strels, etc.,  with  the  usual  cry  of  ^^  Largesse — largesse,  cheva' 
Hers  tres  hardis  /"  an  ancient  invocation,  intended  to  awaken 
the  bounty  of  the  acolytes  of  chivalry  towards  those  whose 
business  it  was  to  register  their  armorial  bearings,  and  cele- 
brate the  deeds  by  which  they  were  illustrated.  The  call 
was,  of  course,  liberally  and  courteously  answered  by  those 
to  whom  it  was  addressed.  Varney  gave  his  largesse  with 
an  affectation  of  complaisance  and  humility.  Raleigh  be- 
•  See  Furniture  of  Kenilworth.    Note  19. 


KENILWORTH.  396 

stowed  liis  with  the  graceful  ease  peculiar  to  one  who  has 
attained  his  own  place,  and  is  familiar  with  its  dignity. 
Honest  Blount  gave  what  his  tailor  had  left  him  of  his  half- 
year's  rent,  dropping  some  pieces  in  his  hurry,  then  stooping 
down  to  look  for  them,  and  then  distributing  them  amongst 
the  various  claimants  with  the  anxious  face  and  mien  of  the 
parish  beadle  dividing  a  dole  among  paupers. 

These  donations  were  accepted  with  the  usual  clamour  and 
vivats  of  applause  common  on  such  occasions;  but,  as  the 
parties  gratified  were  chiefly  dependants  of  Lord  Leicester, 
it  was  Varney  whose  name  was  repeated  with  the  loudest 
acclamations.  Lambourne,  especially,  distinguished  himself 
by  his  vociferations  of  ''Long  life  to  Sir  Richard  Varney! 
Health  and  honour  to  Sir  Eichard !     Never  was  a  more  worthy 

knight  dubbed !"    then,  suddenly  sinking  his  voice,  he 

added,  "  since  the  valiant  Sir  Pandarus  of  Troy" — a  winding- 
up  of  his  clamorous  applause  which  set  all  men  a-laughing 
who  were  within  hearing  of  it. 

It  is  unnecessary  to  say  anything  farther  of  the  festivities 
of  the  evening,  which  were  so  brilliant  in  themselves,  and  re- 
ceived with  such  obvious  and  willing  satisfaction  by  the  Queen, 
that  Leicester  retired  to  his  own  apartment  with  all  the  giddy 
raptures  of  successful  ambition.  Varney,  who  had  changed 
his  splendid  attire,  and  now  waited  on  his  patron  in  a  very 
modest  and  plain  undress,  attended  to  do  the  honoui-s  of  the 
earl's  coxicher. 

"How!  Sir  Eichard,"  said  Leicester,  smiling,  "your  new 
rank  scarce  suits  the  humility  of  this  attendance. " 

"  I  would  disown  that  rank,  my  lord, "  said  Varney,  "  could 
I  think  it  was  to  remove  me  to  a  distance  from  your  lordship's 
person." 

"Thou  art  a  grateful  fellow,"  said  Leicester;  "but  I  must 
not  allow  you  to  do  what  would  abate  you  in  the  opinion  of 
others." 

While  thus  speaking,  he  still  accepted,  without  hesitation, 
the  offices  about  his  person,  which  the  new-made  knight 
seemed  to  render  as  eagerly  as  if  he  had  really  felt,  in  dis- 
charging the  task,  that  pleasure  which  his  words  expressed. 


396  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

"I  am  not  afraid  of  men's  misconstruction,"  lie  said,  in 
answer  to  Leicester's  remark,  "  since  there  is  not — permit  me 
to  undo  the  collar — a  man  within  the  castle  "who  does  not  ex- 
pect very  soon  to  see  persons  of  a  rank  far  superior  to  that 
which,  by  your  goodness,  I  now  hold,  rendering  the  duties  of 
the  bed-chamber  to  you,  and  accounting  it  an  honour." 

"It  might,  indeed,  so  have  been,"  said  the  earl,  with  an 
involuntary  sigh;  and  then  presently  added:  "My  gown, 
Varney — I  will  look  out  on  the  night.  Is  not  the  moon  near 
to  the  full?" 

"  I  think  so,  my  lord,  according  to  the  calendar, "  answered 
Varney. 

There  was  an  abutting  window,  which  opened  on  a  smaU 
projecting  balcony  of  stone,  battlemented  as  is  usual  in  Gothic 
castles.  The  earl  undid  the  lattice,  and  stepped  out  into  the 
open  air.  The  station  he  had  chosen  commanded  an  extensive 
view  of  the  lake  and  woodlands  beyond,  where  the  bright 
moonlight  rested  on  the  clear  blue  waters  and  the  distant 
masses  of  oak  and  elm  trees.  The  moon  rode  high  in  the 
heavens,  attended  by  thousands  and  thousands  of  inferior 
luminaries.  All  seemed  already  to  be  hushed  in  the  nether 
world,  excepting  occasionally  the  voice  of  the  watch,  for  the 
yeomen  of  the  guard  performed  that  duty  wherever  the  Queen 
was  present  in  person,  and  the  distant  baying  of  the  hounds, 
disturbed  by  the  preparations  amongst  the  grooms  and  prickers 
for  a  magnificent  hunt,  which  was  to  be  the  amusement  of  the 
next  day. 

Leicester  looked  out  on  the  blue  arch  of  heaven,  with  ges- 
tures and  a  countenance  expressive  of  anxious  exultation,  while 
Varney,  who  remained  within  the  darkened  apartment,  could, 
himself  unnoticed,  with  a  secret  satisfaction,  see  his  patron 
stretch  his  hands  with  earnest  gesticulation  towards  the  heav- 
enly bodies. 

"  Ye  distant  orbs  of  living  fire, "  so  ran  the  muttered  invo- 
cation of  the  ambitious  earl,  "  ye  are  silent  while  you  wheel 
your  mystic  rounds,  but  Wisdom  has  given  to  you  a  voice. 
TeU  me,  then,  to  what  end  is  my  high  course  destined !  Shall 
the  greatness  to  which  I  have  aspired  be  bright,  pre-eminent. 


KENIL-^ORTH.  397 

and  stable  as  your  own ;  or  am  I  but  doomed  to  di-aw  a  brief 
and  glittering  train  along  the  nightly  darkness,  and  then  to 
sink  down  to  earth,  like  the  base  refuse  of  those  artificial  fires 
with  which  men  emulate  your  rays?" 

He  looked  on  the  heavens  in  profound  silence  for  a  minute 
or  two  longer,  and  then  again  stepped  into  the  apartment, 
where  Varney  seemed  to  have  been  engaged  in  putting  the 
earl's  jewels  into  a  casket. 

"  What  said  Alasco  of  my  horoscope?"  demanded  Leicester. 
"  You  already  told  me,  but  it  has  escaped  me,  for  I  think  but 
lightly  of  that  art." 

"  Many  learned  and  great  men  have  thought  otherwise, "  said 
Varney ;  "  and,  not  to  flatter  your  lordship,  my  own  opinion 
leans  that  way." 

"Ay,  Saul  among  the  prophets!"  said  Leicester.  "I 
thought  thou  wert  sceptical  in  all  such  matters  as  thou  couldst 
neither  see,  hear,  smell,  taste,  or  touch,  and  that  thy  belief 
was  limited  by  thy  senses." 

"Perhaps,  my  lord,"  said  Varney,  "I  may  be  misled  on  the 
present  occasion  by  my  wish  to  find  the  predictions  of  astrol- 
ogy true.  Alasco  says  that  your  favourite  planet  is  culminat- 
ing, and  that  the  adverse  influence — he  would  not  use  a  plainer 
term — though  not  overcome,  was  evidently  combust,  I  think 
he  said,  or  retrograde." 

"  It  is  even  so, "  said  Leicester,  looking  at  an  abstract  of 
astrological  calculations  which  he  had  in  his  hand:  "the 
stronger  influence  will  prevail,  and,  as  I  think,  the  evd  hour 
pass  away.  Lend  me  your  hand.  Sir  Richard,  to  doff  my 
gown ;  and  remain  an  instant,  if  it  is  not  too  burdensome  to 
your  knighthood,  while  I  compose  myself  to  sleep.  I  believe 
the  bustle  of  this  day  has  fevered  my  blood,  for  it  streams 
through  my  veins  like  a  current  of  molten  lead — remain  an 
instant,  I  pray  you :  I  would  fain  feel  my  eyes  heavy  ere  I 
closed  them." 

Varney  officiously  assisted  his  lord  to  bed,  and  placed  a 
massive  silver  night-lamp,  with  a  short  sword,  on  a  marble 
table  which  stood  close  by  the  head  of  the  couch.  Either  in 
order  to  avoid  the  light  of  the  lamp  or  to  hide  his  countenance 


398  WAVERLEY  I^OVELS. 

from  Varney,  Leicester  drew  the  curtain,  heavy  with  entwined 
silk  and  gold,  so  as  completely  to  shade  his  face.  Yaruey 
took  a  seat  near  the  bed,  but  with  his  back  towards  his  master, 
as  if  to  intimate  that  he  was  not  watching  him,  and  quietly- 
waited  till  Leicester  himself  led  the  way  to  the  topic  by  which 
his  mind  was  engrossed. 

"  And  so,  Varney, "  said  the  earl,  after  waiting  in  vain  till 
his  dependant  should  commence  the  conversation,  "  men  talk 
of  the  Queen's  favour  towards  me?" 

"Ay,  my  good  lord,"  said  Varney;  "of  what  can  they  else, 
since  it  is  so  strongly  manifested?" 

"She  is  indeed  my  good  and  gracious  mistress,"  said  Leices- 
ter, after  another  pause;  "but  it  is  written,  'Put  not  thy  trust 
in  princes. '  " 

"  A  good  sentence  and  a  true, "  said  Varney,  "  imless  you 
can  unite  their  interest  with  yours  so  absolutely  that  they 
must  needs  sit  on  your  wrist  like  hooded  hawks." 

"  I  know  what  thou  meanest, "  said  Leicester,  impatiently, 
**  though  thou  art  to-night  so  prudentially  careful  of  what  thou 
sayst  to  me.  Thou  wouldst  intimate,  I  might  marry  the 
Queen  if  I  would?" 

"It  is  your  speech,  my  lord,  not  mine,"  answered  Varney; 
*'  but  whosesoever  be  the  speech,  it  is  the  thought  of  ninety- 
nine  out  of  an  hundred  men  throughout  broad  England." 

"  Ay,  but, "  said  Leicester,  turning  himself  in  his  bed,  "  the 
hundredth  man  knows  better.  Thou,  for  example,  knowest 
the  obstacle  that  cannot  be  overleaped." 

"  It  must,  my  lord,  if  the  stars  speak  true, "  said  Varney, 
composedly. 

"What!  talk'st  thou  of  them,"  said  Leicester,  "that  be- 
lievest  not  in  them  or  in  aught  else?" 

"  You  mistake,  my  lord,  under  your  gracious  pardon, "  said 
Yarney :  "  I  believe  in  many  things  that  predict  the  future.  I 
believe,  if  showers  fall  in  April,  that  we  shall  have  flowers  in 
May;  that  if  the  sun  shines,  grain  will  ripen;  and  I  believe 
in  much  natural  philosophy  to  the  same  effect,  which,  if  the 
stars  swear  to  me,  I  will  say  the  stars  speak  the  truth.  And 
in  like  manner,  I  will  not  disbelieve  that  which  I  see  wished 


KENILWORTH.  399 

for  and  expected  on  earth,  solely  because  the  astrologers  have 
read  it  in  the  heavens." 

"  Thou  art  right, "  said  Leicester,  again  tossing  himself  on 
his  couch — "  earth  does  wish  for  it.  I  have  had  advices  from 
the  Reformed  Churches  of  Germany,  from  the  Low  Countries, 
fi'om  Switzerland,  urging  this  as  a  point  on  which  Europe's 
safety  depends.  France  will  not  oppose  it.  The  ruling  party 
in  Scotland  look  to  it  as  their  best  security.  Spain  fears  it, 
but  cannot  prevent  it.     And  yet  thou  knowest  it  is  impossible. ' 

"  I  know  not  that,  my  lord, "  said  Yarney :  "  the  countess  i:^ 
indisposed. " 

"Villain!"  said  Leicester,  starting  up  on  his  couch,  and 
seizing  the  sword  which  lay  on  the  table  beside  him,  "  go  thy 
thoughts  that  way?     Thou  wouldst  not  do  murder?" 

"  For  whom  or  what  do  you  hold  me,  my  lord?"  said  Tai' 
ney,  assuming  the  superiority  of  an  innocent  man  subjected  t^ 
imjust  suspicion.  ''I  said  nothing  to  deserve  such  a  horrid 
imputation  as  your  violence  infers.  I  said  but  that  the  coun- 
tess was  ill.  And  countess  though  she  be — lovely  and  beloved 
as  she  is,  surely  your  lordship  must  hold  her  to  be  mortal? 
She  may  die,  and  your  lordship's  hand  become  once  more 
your  own. " 

"Away! — away!"  said  Leicester;  "let  me  have  no  more  of 
this." 

"  Good-night,  my  lord, "  said  Varney,  seeming  to  understand 
this  as  a  command  to  depart;  but  Leicester's  voice  interrupted 
his  purpose. 

"Thou  'scapest  me  not  thus,  sir  fool,"  said  he;  "I  think 
thy  knighthood  has  addled  thy  brains.  Confess  thon  hast 
talked  of  impossibilities  as  of  things  which  may  come  to  pass." 

"  ]\Iy  lord,  long  live  your  fair  countess, "  said  Varney ;  "  but 
neither  your  love  nor  my.good  wishes  can  make  her  immortal. 
But  God  grant  she  live  long  to  be  happy  herself,  and  to  render 
you  so !  I  see  not  but  you  may  be  King  of  England  notwith' 
standing. " 

"iSTay,  now,  Vai-nej',  thou  art  stark  mad,"  said  Leicester. 

"  I  would  I  were  myself  within  the  same  nearness  to  a  good 
estate  of  freehold, "  said  Varney.     "  Have  we  not  known  in 


400  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

other  countries,  how  a  left-handed  marriage  might  subsist  be- 
twixt persons  of  differing  degree? — ay,  and  be  no  hinderance 
to  prevent  the  husband  from  conjoining  himself  afterwards 
with  a  more  suitable  partner?" 

"  I  have  heard  of  such  things  in  Germany, "  said  Leicester. 
'  "  Ay,  and  the  most  learned  doctors  in  foreign  universities 
justify  the  practice  from  the  Old  Testament,"  said  Varney. 
"And,  after  all,  where  is  the  harm?  The  beautiful  partner 
whom  you  have  chosen  for  true  love  has  your  secret  hours  of 
relaxation  and  affection.  Her  fame  is  safe;  her  conscience 
may  slumber  securely.  You  have  wealth  to  provide  royally 
for  your  issue,  should  Heaven  bless  you  with  offspring. 
Meanwhile,  you  may  give  to  Elizabeth  ten  times  the  leisure, 
and  ten  thousand  times  the  affection,  that  ever  Don  Philip  of 
Spain  spared  to  her  sister  Mary ;  yet  you  know  how  she  doted 
on  him  though  so  cold  and  neglectful.  It  requires  but  a  close 
mouth  and  an  open  brow,  and  you  keep  your  Eleanor  and  your 
fair  Rosamond  far  enough  separate.  Leave  me  to  build  you  a 
bower  to  which  no  jealous  queen  shall  find  a  clue." 

Leicester  was  silent  for  a  moment,  then  sighed  and  said :  "  It 

is  impossible.     Good-night,  Sir  Richard  Varney ;  yet  stay 

Can  you  guess  what  meant  Tressilian  by  showing  himself  in 
such  careless  guise  before  the  Queen  to-day?  To  strike  her 
tender  heart,  I  should  guess,  with  all  the  sympathies  due  to  a 
lover  abandoned  by  his  mistress,  and  abandoning  himself." 

Varney,  smothermg  a  sneering  laugh,  answered :  "  He  be- 
lieved Master  Tressilian  had  no  such  matter  in  his  head." 

"How!"  said  Leicester,  "what  mean'st  thou?  There  is 
ever  knavery  in  that  laugh  of  thine,  Varney." 

"  I  only  meant,  my  lord, "  said  Varney,  "  that  Tressilian  has 
taken  the  sure  way  to  avoid  heart-breaking.  He  hath  had  a 
companion — a  female  companion — a  mistress — a  sort  of  play- 
er's wife  or  sister,  as  I  believe — with  him  in  Mervyn's  Bower, 
where  I  quartered  him  for  certain  reasons  of  my  own." 

"A  mistress!  mean'st  thou  a  paramour?" 

"  Ay,  my  lord ;  what  female  else  waits  for  hours  in  a  gen- 
tleman's chamber?" 

"  By  my  faith,  time  and  space  fitting,  this  were  a  good  tale 


KENILWORTH.  401 

to  tell,"  said  Leicester.  "I  ever  distrusted  those  bookish, 
hypocritical,  seeming-virtuous  scholars.  Well,  Master  Tres- 
silian  makes  somewhat  familiar  with  my  house ;  if  I  look  it 
over,  he  is  indebted  to  it  for  certain  recollections.  I  would 
not  harm  him  more  than  I  can  help.  Keep  eye  on  him,  how- 
ever, Varney." 

"I  lodged  him  for  that  reason,"  said  Varney,  "in  Mervyn's 
Tower,  where  he  is  under  the  eye  of  my  very  vigilant,  if  he 
were  not  also  my  very  drunken,  servant,  Michael  Lambourne, 
whom  I  have  told  your  Grace  of." 

!  "Grace!"  said  Leicester;  "whatmean'st  thou  by  that  epi- 
thet?" 

I  "  It  came  unawares,  my  lord ;  and  yet  it  sounds  so  very  nat- 
Tiral  that  I  cannot  recall  it. " 

"It  is  thine  own  preferment  that  hath  turned  thy  brain," 
said  Leicester,  laughing ;  "  new  honours  are  as  heady  as  new 
wine." 

"  May  your  lordship  soon  have  cause  to  say  so  from  expe- 
rience," said  Varney;  and,  wishing  his  patron  good-night,  he 
withdrew. 


CHAPTER   XXXIII. 

Here  stands  the  victim ;  there  the  proud  betrayer, 
E'en  as  the  hind  pull'd  down  by  strangling  dogs 
I  Lies  at  the  hunter's  feet,  who  courteous  proffers 

To  some  high  dame,  the  Dian  of  the  chase, 
To  whom  he  looks  for  guerdon,  his  sharp  blade, 
To  gash  the  sobbing  throat. 

The  Woodsman. 

We  are  now  to  return  to  Mervyn's  Bower,  the  apartment,  or 
rather  the  prison,  of  the  unfortunate  Countess  of  Leicester, 
who  for  some  time  kept  within  bounds  her  uncertainty  and 
her  impatience.  She  was  aware  that,  in  the  tumult  of  the 
day,  there  might  be  some  delay  ere  her  letter  could  be  safely 
conveyed  to  the  hands  of  Leicester,  and  that  some  time  more 
might  elapse  ere  he  could  extricate  himself  from  the  necessary 
attendance  on  Elizabeth,  to  come  and  visit  her  in  her  secret 
laower.  "  I  will  not  expect  him, "  she  said,  "  till  night :  he 
26 


402  WAVERLEY  NO  .'ELS. 

caanot  be  absent  from  his  royal  guest,  even  to  see  me.  He 
will,  I  know,  come  earlier  if  it  be  possible,  but  I  will  not  ex- 
pect Mm  before  nigbt. "  And  yet  all  the  while  she  did  expect 
him;  and,  while  she  tried  to  argue  herself  into  a  contrary 
belief,  each  hasty  noise,  of  the  hundred  which  she  heard, 
sounded  like  the  hurried  step  of  Leicester  on  the  staircase, 
hasting  to  fold  her  in  his  arms. 

The  fatigue  of  body  which  Amy  had  lately  undergone,  with 
the  agitation  of  mind  natural  to  so  cruel  a  state  of  uncertainty, 
began  by  degrees  strongly  to  affect  her  nerves,  and  she  almost 
feared  her  total  inability  to  maintain  the  necessary  self-com- 
mand through  the  scenes  which  might  lie  before  her.  But, 
although  spoiled  by  an  over-indulgent  system  of  education. 
Amy  had  naturally  a  mind  of  great  power,  united  with  a  frame 
which  her  share  in  her  father's  woodland  exercises  had  ren- 
dered uncommonly  healthy.  She  summoned  to  her  aid  such 
mental  and  bodily  resources ;  and  not  unconscious  how  much 
the  issue  of  her  fate  might  depend  on  her  own  self-possession, 
she  prayed  internally  for  strength  of  body  and  for  mental  for- 
titude, and  resolved,  at  the  same  time,  to  yield  to  no  nervous 
impulse  which  might  weaken  either. 

Yet,  when  the  great  bell  of  the  castle,  which  was  placed  iu 
Caesar's  Tower,  at  no  great  distance  from  that  called  Mer-\'yn's, 
began  to  send  its  pealing  clamour  abroad,  in  signal  of  the  ar- 
rival of  the  royal  procession,  the  din  was  so  painfully  acute  to 
ears  rendered  nervously  sensitive  by  anxiety,  that  she  could 
hardly  forbear  shrieking  with  anguish  in  answer  to  every  stun- 
ning clash  of  the  relentless  peal. 

Shortly  afterwards,  when  the  small  apartment  was  at  once 
enlightened  by  the  shower  of  artificial  fires  with  which  the  air 
was  suddenly  filled,  and  which  crossed  each  other  like  fiery 
spirits,  each  bent  on  his  own  separate  mission,  or  like  sala- 
manders executing  a  frolic  dance  in  the  region  of  the  sylphs, 
the  comitess  felt  at  first  as  if  each  rocket  shot  close  by  her 
eyes,  and  discharged  its  sparks  and  flashes  so  nigh  that  she 
could  feel  a  sense  of  the  heat.  But  she  struggled  against 
these  fantastic  terrors,  and  compelled  herself  to  arise,  stand  by 
the  window,  look  out,  and  gaze  upon  a  sight  which  at  another 


KENILWORTH.  403 

time  would  have  appeared  to  her  at  once  captivating  and  fear- 
ful. The  magnificent  towers  of  the  castle  were  enveloped 
in  garlands  of  artificial  fire,  or  shrouded  with  tiaras  of  pale 
smoke.  The  surface  of  the  lake  glowed  like  molten  iron, 
while  many  fireworks  (then  thought  extremely  wonderful, 
though  now  common),  whose  flame  continued  to  exist  ia  the 
opposing  element,  dived  and  rose,  hissed  and  roared,  and 
spouted  fire,  like  so  many  dragons  of  enchantment  sporting 
upon  a  biu'ning  lake. 

Even  Amy  was  for  a  moment  interested  by  what  was  to  her 
so  new  a  scene.  "  I  had  thought  it  magical  art, "  she  said, 
"but  poor  Tressilian  taught  me  to  judge  of  such  things  as 
they  are.  Great  God!  and  may  not  these  idle  splendours  re- 
semble my  own  hoped-for  happiness — a  single  spark,  which  is 
instantly  swallowed  up  by  surrounding  darkness — a  precarious 
glow,  which  rises  but  for  a  brief  space  into  the  air,  that  its 
fall  may  be  the  lower?  0  Leicester!  after  all — all  that  thou 
hastf  said — hast  sworn — that  Amy  was  thy  love,  thy  life,  cau 
it  be  that  thou  art  the  magician  at  whose  nod  these  enchant- 
ments arise,  and  that  she  sees  them  as  an  outcast,  if  not  a 
captive?" 

The  sustained,  prolonged,  and  repeated  bursts  of  music  from 
so  many  different  quarters,  and  at  so  many  varying  points  of 
distance,  which  sounded  as  if  not  the  Castle  of  KenUworth 
only,  but  the  whole  country  around,  had  been  at  once  the  scene 
of  solemnising  some  high  national  festival,  carried  the  same 
oppressive  thought  still  closer  to  her  heart,  while  some  notes 
would  melt  in  distant  and  falling  tones,  as  if  in  compassion 
for  her  sorrows,  and  some  burst  close  and  near  upon  her,  as  if 
mocking  her  misery,  with  all  the  insolence  of  imlimited  mirth. 
"  These  sounds, "  she  said,  "  are  mine — mine  because  they  are 
HIS ;  but  I  cannot  say,  '  Be  still,  these  loud  strains  suit  me 
not ' ;  and  the  voice  of  the  meanest  peasant  that  mingles  in 
the  dance  would  have  more  power  to  modulate  the  music  than 
the  command  of  her  who  is  mistress  of  all!" 

By  degrees  the  sounds  of  revelry  died  away,  and  the  coun- 
tess withdrew  fi-om  the  window  at  which  she  had  sate  listen- 
ing to  them.     It  was  night,  but  the  moon  afforded  considera- 


404  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

ble  light  in  the  room,  so  that  Amy  was  able  to  make  the 
arrangement  which  she  judged  necessary.  There  was  hope 
that  Leicester  might  come  to  her  apartment  as  soon  as  the 
revel  in  the  castle  had  subsided;  but  there  was  also  risk  she 
might  be  disturbed  by  some  unauthorised  intruder.  She  had 
lost  confidence  in  the  key,  since  Tressilian  had  entered  so 
easily,  though  the  door  was  locked  on  the  inside ;  yet  aU  the 
additional  security  she  could  think  of  was  to  place  the  table 
across  the  door,  that  she  might  be  warned  by  the  noise,  should 
any  one  attempt  to  enter.  Having  taken  these  necessary  pre- 
cautions, the  unfortunate  lady  withdrew  to  her  couch,  stretched 
herself  down  on  it,  mused  in  anxious  expectation,  and  counted 
more  than  one  hour  after  midnight,  till  exhausted  nature 
proved  too  strong  for  love,  for  grief,  for  fear,  nay,  even  for 
uncertainty,  and  she  slept. 

Yes,  she  slept.  The  Indian  sleeps  at  the  stake,  in  the  in- 
tervals between  his  tortures;  and  mental  torments,  in  like 
manner,  exhaust  by  long  continuance  the  sensibility  of  ^  the 
sufferer,  so  that  an  interval  of  lethargic  repose  must  neces- 
sarily ensue  ere  the  pangs  which  they  inflict  can  again  be  re- 
newed. 

The  countess  slept,  then,  for  several  hours,  and  dreamed 
that  she  was  in  the  ancient  house  at  Cumnor  Place,  listening 
for  the  low  whistle  with  which  Leicester  often  used  to  an- 
nounce his  presence  in  the  courtyard,  when  arriving  suddenly 
on  one  of  his  stolen  visits.  But  on  this  occasion,  instead  of  a 
whistle,  she  heard  the  peculiar  blast  of  a  bugle-horn,  such  aa 
her  father  used  to  wind  on  the  fall  of  the  stag,  and  which 
huntsmen  then  called  a  "mort."  She  ran,  as  she  thought,  to 
a  window  that  looked  into  the  courtyard,  which  she  saw  filled 
with  men  in  mourning  garments.  The  old  curate  seemed 
about  to  read  the  funeral  service.  Mumblazen,  tricked  out  in 
an  antique  dress,  like  an  ancient  herald,  held  aloft  a  scutcheon, 
with  its  usual  decorations  of  skulls,  cross-bones,  and  hour- 
glasses, surrounding  a  coat-of-arms,  of  which  she  could  only 
distinguish  that  it  was  surmounted  with  an  earl's  coronet. 
The  old  man  looked  at  her  with  a  ghastly  smile,  and  said: 
*' Amy,  are  they  not  rightly  quartered?"     Just  as  he  spoke, 


KENILWORTH.  405 

the  horns  again  poured  on  her  ear  the  melancholy  yet  wild 
strain  of  the  mort,  or  death-note,  and  she  awoke. 

The  countess  awoke  to  hear  a  real  bugle-note,  or  rather  the 
combined  breath  of  many  bugles,  soundmg  not  the  mort,  but 
the  jolly  reveille,  to  remind  the  inmates  of  the  Castle  of  Ken- 
ilworth  that  the  pleasures  of  the  day  were  to  commence  with, 
a  magnificent  stag-hunting  in  the  neighbouring  chase.  Amy 
started  up  from  her  couch,  listened  to  the  sound,  saw  the  first 
beams  of  the  summer  morning  already  twinkle  through  the 
lattice  of  her  window,  and  recollected,  with  feelings  of  giddy 
agony,  where  she  was,  and  how  circumstanced. 

"  He  thinks  not  of  me, "  she  said — "  he  wiR  not  come  nigh 
me !  A  queen  is  his  guest,  and  what  cares  he  m  what  corner 
of  his  huge  castle  a  wretch  like  me  pines  in  doubt,  which  is 
fast  fading  into  despair?"  At  once  a  sound  at  the  door,  as  of 
some  one  attempting  to  open  it  softly,  filled  her  with  an  in- 
effable mixture  of  joy  and  fear;  and,  hastening  to  remove  the 
obstacle  she  had  placed  against  the  door,  and  to  unlock  it,  she 
had  the  precaution  to  ask:  "Is  it  thou,  my  love?" 

"  Yes,  my  countess, "  murmured  a  whisper  in  reply. 

She  threw  open  the  door,  and  exclaiming,  "Leicester!" 
flung  her  arms  around  the  neck  of  the  man  who  stood  without, 
muffled  in  his  cloak. 

"  No — not  quite  Leicester, "  answered  Michael  Lambourne, 
for  he  it  was,  returning  the  caress  with  vehemence — "not 
quite  Leicester,  my  lovely  and  most  loving  duchess,  but  as 
good  a  man." 

With  an  exertion  of  force  of  which  she  would  at  another 
time  have  thought  herself  incapable,  the  countess  freed  herself 
from  the  profane  and  profaning  grasp  of  the  drunken  de- 
bauchee, and  retreated  into  the  midst  of  her  apartment,  where 
despair  gave  her  courage  to  make  a  stand. 

As  Lambourne,  on  entering,  dropped  the  lap  of  his  cloak 
from  his  face,  she  knew  Varney's  profligate  servant,  the  very 
last  person,  excepting  his  detested  master,  by  whom  she  would 
have  wished  to  be  discovered.  But  she  was  still  closely 
muffled  in  her  travelling  dress,  and  as  Lambourne  had  scarce 
ever  been  admitted  to  her  presence  at  Cuninor  Place,  her  per- 


406  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

son,  she  hoped,  might  not  be  so  well  known  to  him  as  his  was 
to  her,  owing  to  Janet's  pointing  him  frequently  out  as  he 
crossed  the  court,  and  telling  stories  of  his  wickedness.  She 
might  have  had  still  greater  confidence  in  her  disguise  had  her 
experience  enabled  her  to  discover  that  he  was  much  intoxi 
cated ;  but  this  could  scarce  have  consoled  her  for  the  risk 
which  she  might  incur  from  such  a  character,  in  such  a  time, 
place,  and  circumstances. 

Lambourne  flung  the  door  behind  him  as  he  entered,  and 
folding  his  arms,  as  if  in  mockery  of  the  attitude  of  distrac- 
tion into  which  Amy  had  thrown  herseK,  he  proceeded  thus : 
*'Hark  ye,  most  fair  Calipolis — or  most  lovely  countess  of 
clouts,  and  divine  duchess  of  dark  corners — if  thou  takest  all 
that  trouble  of  skewering  thyself  together,  like  a  trussed  fowl, 
that  there  may  be  more  pleasure  in  the  carving,  even  save  thy- 
self the  labour.  I  love  thy  first  frank  manner  the  best;  like 
thy  present  as  little  (he  made  a  step  towards  her,  and  stag- 
gered)— as  little  as — such  a  danmed  uneven  floor  as  this, 
where  a  gentleman  may  break  his  neck,  if  he  does  not  walk  as 
upright  as  a  posture-master  on  the  tight-rope. " 

"  Stand  back!"  said  the  countess :  "  do  not  approach  nearer 
to  me  on  thy  peril!" 

"My  peril!  and  stand  back!  Why,  how  now,  madam? 
Must  you  have  a  better  mate  than  honest  Mike  Lambourne? 
I  have  been  in  Aonerica,  girl,  where  the  gold  grows,  and  have 
brought  off  such  a  load  on't " 

"Good  friend,"  said  the  countess  in  great  terror  at  the 
ruf&an's  determined  and  audacious  manner,  "  I  prithee  begone, 
and  leave  me." 

"  And  so  I  will,  pretty  one,  when  we  are  tired  of  each  oth- 
er's company,  not  a  jot  sooner."  He  seized  her  by  the  arm, 
while,  incapable  of  further  defence,  she  uttered  shriek  upon 
shriek.  "Nay,  scream  away  if  you  like  it,"  said  he,  still 
holding  her  fast ;  "  I  have  heard  the  sea  at  the  loudest,  and  I 
mind  a  squalling  woman  no  more  than  a  miauling  kitten. 
Damn  me !  I  have  heard  fifty  or  a  hundred  screaming  at  once, 
when  there  was  a  town  stormed." 

The  cries  of  the  countess,  however,  brought  unexpected 


KENILWORTH.  40T 

aid,  in  the  person  of  Laurence  Staples,  who  had  heard  her 
exclamatious  from  his  apartment  below,  and  entered  in  good 
time  to  save  her  fi-om  being  discovered,  if  not  from  more 
atrocious  violence.  Laurence  was  drunk  also  from  the  de- 
bauch of  the  preceding  night ;  but  fortunately  his  intoxicatioa 
had  talien  a  different  turn  from  that  of  Lamboume. 

"What  the  devil's  noise  is  this  in  the  Avard?"  he  said. 
**  What !  man  and  woman  together  in  the  same  cell !  that  is 
against  rule.  I  will  have  decency  imder  my  rule,  by  St.  Peter 
of  the  Fetters." 

"Get  thee  downstairs,  thou  drunken  beast,"  said  Lam- 
bourne;  "  seest  thou  not  the  lady  and  I  would  be  private?" 

"  Good  sir — worthy  sir, "  said  the  countess,  addressing  the 
jailor,  "  do  but  save  me  from  him,  for  the  sake  of  mercy!" 

"She  speaks  fairly,"  said  the  jailor,  "and  I  will  take  her 
part.  I  love  my  prisoners ;  and  I  have  had  as  good  prisoners 
under  my  key  as  they  have  had  in  Newgate  or  the  Compter. 
And  so,  being  one  of  my  lambkins,  as  I  say,  no  one  shall  dis- 
turb her  in  her  penfold.  So,  let  go  the  woman,  or  I'll  knock 
your  brains  out  with  my  keys." 

"I'll  make  a  blood-puddmg  of  thy  midriff  first,"  answered 
Lambourne,  laying  his  left  hand  on  his  dagger,  but  still  de- 
taining the  countess  by  the  arm  with  his  right.  "  So  have  at 
thee,  thou  old  ostrich,  whose  only  living  is  upon  a  bunch  of 
iron  keys!" 

Laurence  raised  the  arm  of  Michael,  and  prevented  him 
from  drawing  his  dagger;  and  as  Lambourne  struggled  and 
strove  to  shake  him  off,  the  countess  made  a  sudden  exertion 
on  her  side,  and  slipping  her  hand  out  of  the  glove  on  which 
the  ruffian  still  kept  hold,  she  gained  her  liberty  and,  escaping 
from  the  apartment,  ran  doAvnstairs ;  while,  at  the  same  mo- 
ment, she  heard  the  two  combatants  fall  on  the  floor  with  a 
noise  which  increased  her  terror.  The  outer  wicket  offered 
no  impediment  to  her  flight,  havuig  been  opened  for  Lam- 
bourne's  admittance;  so  that  she  succeeded  in  escaping  down 
the  stair,  and  fled  into  the  Pleasauee,  which  seemed  to  her 
hasty  glance  the  direction  in  which  she  was  most  likely  to 
avoid  pursuit. 


408  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

Meanwhile,  Laurence  and  Lambourne  rolled  on  the  floor  of 
the  apartment,  closely  grappled  together.  Neither  had,  hap- 
pily, opportunity  to  draw  their  daggers ;  but  Laurence  found 
space  enough  to  dash  his  heavy  keys  across  Michael's  face, 
and  Michael,  in  return,  grasped  the  turnkey  so  felly  by  the 
throat  that  the  blood  gushed  from  nose  and  mouth ;  so  that 
they  were  both  gory  and  filthy  spectacles,  when  one  of  the 
other  officers  of  the  household,  attracted  by  the  noise  of  the 
fray,  entered  the  room,  and  with  some  difficulty  effected  the 
separation  of  the  combatants. 

**A  murrain  on  you  both,"  said  the  charitable  mediator, 
"  and  especially  on  you.  Master  Lambourne !  What  the  fiend 
lie  you  here  for,  fighting  on  the  floor,  like  two  butchers'  curs 
in  the  kennel  of  the  shambles?" 

Lambourne  arose,  and,  somewhat  sobered  by  the  interposi. 
tion  of  a  third  party,  looked  with  something  less  than  his 
usual  brazen  impudence  of  visage.  "  We  fought  for  a  wench, 
an  thou  must  know,"  was  his  reply. 

"A  wench!     Where  is  she?"  said  the  officer. 

"  Why,  vanished,  I  think, "  said  Lambourne,  looking  around 
him;  "unless  Laurence  hath  swallowed  her.  That  filthy 
paunch  of  his  devours  as  many  distressed  damsels  and  op- 
pressed orphans  as  e'er  a  giant  in  King  Arthur's  history:  they 
are  his  prime  food;  he  worries  them  body,  soul,  and  sub- 
stance." 

"Ay — ay!  It's  no  matter,"  said  Laurence,  gathering  up 
his  huge  ungainly  form  from  the  floor ;  "  but  I  have  had  your 
betters,  Master  Michael  Lambourne,  under  the  little  turn  of 
my  forefinger  and  thumb;  and  I  shall  have  thee,  before  all's 
done,  under  my  hatches.  The  impudence  of  thy  brow  will 
not  always  save  thy  shin-bones  from  iron,  and  thy  foul  thirsty 
gullet  from  a  hempen  cord."  The  words  were  no  sooner  out 
■of  his  mouth  when  Lambourne  again  made  at  him. 

"  Nay,  go  not  to  it  again, "  said  the  sewer,  "  or  I  wiU  call 
for  him  shall  tame  you  both,  and  that  is  Master  Varney — Sir 
Bichard,  I  mean ;  he  is  stirring,  I  promise  you :  I  saw  him 
«ross  the  court  just  now." 

"Didst  thou,  by  G — ?"  said  Lambourne,   seizing  on   the 


KENILWORTH.  409* 

basin  and  sewer  which  stood  in  the  apartment.  "  ^ay,  then, 
element,  do  thy  work.  I  thought  I  had  enough  of  thee  last 
night,  when  I  floated  about  for  Orion,  like  a  cork  on  a  fer- 
menting cask  of  ale." 

So  saying,  he  fell  to  work  to  cleanse  from  his  face  and 
hands  the  signs  of  the  fray,  and  get  his  apparel  into  some 
order. 

"  What  hast  thou  done  to  him?"  said  the  sewer,  speaking 
aside  to  the  jailor;  "his  face  is  fearfully  swelled." 

*'  It  is  but  the  imprint  of  the  key  of  my  cabinet,  too  good  a 
mark  for  his  gallows-face.  No  man  shall  abuse  or  insult  my 
prisoners;  they  are  my  jewels,  and  I  lock  them  in  safe  casket 
accordingly.  And  so,  mistress,  leave  off  your  wailing.  Hey  I 
why,  surely  there  was  a  woman  here!" 

"  I  think  you  are  all  mad  this  morning, "  said  the  sewer. 
*'  I  saw  no  woman  here,  nor  no  man  neither  in  a  proper  sense, 
but  only  two  beasts  rolling  on  the  floor." 

"Nay,  then,  I  am  undone,"  said  the  jailor:  "the  prison's 
broken,  that  is  all.  Kenilworth  prison  is  broken,"  he  con- 
tinued, in  a  tone  of  maudlin  lamentation,  "which  was  the 
strongest  jail  betwixt  this  and  the  Welsh  marches — ay,  and  a 
house  that  has  had  knights,  and  earls,  and  kings  sleeping  in 
it,  as  secure  as  if  they  had  been  in  the  Tower  of  London.  It 
is  broken,  the  prisoners  fled,  and  the  jailor  in  much  danger  of 
being  hanged!" 

So  saying,  he  retreated  down  to  his  own  den  to  conclude  his 
lamentations,  or  to  sleep  himself  sober.  Lambourne  and  the 
sewer  followed  him  close,  and  it  was  well  for  them,  since  the 
jailor,  out  of  mere  habit,  was  about  to  lock  the  wicket  after 
him ;  and  had  they  not  been  within  the  reach  of  interfering, 
they  would  have  had  the  pleasure  of  being  shut  up  in  the  tur- 
ret-chamber, from  which  the  countess  had  been  just  delivered. 

That  imhappy  lady,  as  soon  as  she  found  herseK  at  liberty, 
fled,  as  we  have  already  mentioned,  into  the  Pleasance.  She 
had  seen  this  richly  ornamented  space  of  ground  from  the 
window  of  Mervyn's  Tower;  and  it  occurred  to  her,  at  the 
moment  of  her  escape,  that,  among  its  numerous  arbours, 
bowers,  fountains,  statues,  and  grottoes,  she  might  find  some 


410  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

recess,  iii  which  slie  could  lie  concealed  until  she  had  an  op- 
portunity of  addressing  herself  to  a  protector,  to  whom  she 
might  communicate  as  much  as  she  dared  of  her  forlorn  situ- 
ation, and  through  whose  means  she  might  supplicate  an 
interview  with  her  husband. 

•'  If  I  could  see  my  guide,  she  thought,  "  I  would  learn  if  he 
had  delivered  my  letter.  Even  did  I  but  see  Tressilian,  it 
were  better  to  risk  Dudley's  anger,  by  confiding  my  whole 
situation  to  one  who  is  the  very  soul  of  honour,  than  to  rim 
the  hazard  of  farther  insult  among  the  insolent  menials  of  this 
iU-ruled  place.  I  will  not  again  venture  into  an  inclosed 
apartment.  I  will  wait — I  will  watch;  amidst  so  many 
human  beings,  there  must  be  some  kind  heart  which  can  judge 
and  compassionate  what  mine  endures." 

In  truth,  more  than  one  party  entered  and  traversed  the 
Pleasance.  But  they  were  in  joyous  groups  of  four  or  live 
persons  together,  laughing  and  jesting  in  their  own  fulness  of 
mirth  and  lightness  of  heart. 

The  retreat  which  she  had  chosen  gave  her  the  easy  alterna- 
tive of  avoiding  observation.  It  was  but  stepping  back  to  the 
farthest  recess  of  a  grotto,  ornamented  with  rustic  work  and 
moss-seats,  and  terminated  by  a  fountain,  and  she  might 
easily  remain  concealed,  or  at  her  pleasure  discover  herself  to 
any  solitary  wanderer  whose  curiosity  might  lead  him  to  that 
romantic  retirement.  Anticipating  such  an  opportunity,  she 
looked  into  the  clear  basin  Avhich  the  silent  fountain  held  up 
to  her  like  a  mirror,  and  felt  shocked  at  her  own  appearance, 
and  doubtful  at  the  same  time,  muffled  and  disfigured  as  her 
disguise  made  her  seem  to  herself,  whether  any  female  (and  it 
was  from  the  compassion  of  her  own  sex  that  she  chiefly  ex- 
pected sympathy)  would  engage  in  conference  with  so  suspi- 
cious an  object.  Reasoning  thus  like  a  woman,  to  whom 
external  appearance  is  scarcely  in  any  circumstances  a  matter 
of  unimportance,  and  like  a  beauty,  who  had  some  confidence 
in  the  power  of  her  own  charms,  she  laid  aside  her  travelling- 
cloak  and  capotaine  hat,  and  placed  them  beside  her,  so  that 
she  could  assume  them  in  an  iastant,  ere  one  could  penetrate 
from  the  entrance  of  the  grotto  to  its  extremity,  in  case  the 


KENILWORTH.  411 

iutrusion  of  Varney  or  of  Lambourne  should  render  such,  dis- 
guise necessary.  The  dress  which  she  wore  under  these  vest- 
ments was  somewhat  of  a  theatrical  cast,  so  as  to  suit  the 
assumed  personage  of  one  of  the  females  who  Avas  to  act  in  the 
pageant.  "Wayland  had  found  the  means  of  arranging  it  thus 
upon  the  second  day  of  their  journey,  having  experienced  the 
service  arising  from  the  assumption  of  such  a  character  on  the 
preceding  day.  The  foimtain,  actuig  both  as  a  mirror  and 
ewer,  afforded  Amy  the  means  of  a  brief  toilette,  of  which 
she  availed  herself  as  hastily  as  possible ;  then  took  in  her 
hand  her  small  casket  of  jewels,  in  case  she  might  find  them 
useful  intercessors,  and  retiring  to  the  darkest  and  most  se- 
questered nook,  sat  down  on  a  seat  of  moss,  and  awaited  till 
fate  should  give  her  some  chance  of  rescue  or  of  propitiating 
an  intercessor. 


CHAPTER   XXXIV. 

Have  you  not  seen  the  partridge  quake, 
Viewing  the  hawk  approaching  niga  ? 

She  cuddles  close  beneath  the  brake, 
Afraid  to  sit,  afraid  to  fly. 

Prior. 

It  chanced,  upon  that  memorable  morning,  that  one  of  the 
earliest  of  the  huntress  train  who  appeared  from  her  chamber 
in  full  array  for  the  chase  was  the  princess  for  whom  all  these 
pleasures  were  instituted,  England's  Maiden  Queen.  I  know 
not  if  it  were  by  chance,  or  out  of  the  befitting  courtesy  due 
to  a  mistress  by  whom  he  was  so  much  honoured,  that  she  had 
scarcely  made  one  step  beyond  the  threshold  of  her  chamber 
ere  Leicester  was  by  her  side,  and  proposed  to  her,  until  the 
preparations  for  the  chase  had  been  completed,  to  view  the 
Pleasance  and  the  gardens  which  it  connected  with  the  castle- 
yard. 

To  this  new  scene  of  pleasures  they  walked,  the  earl's  arm 
affording  his  sovereign  the  occasional  support  which  she  re- 
quired, where  flights  of  steps,  then  a  favourite  ornament  in 
a  garden,  conducted  them  from  terrace  to  terrace  and  from 


412  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

parterre  to  parterre.  The  ladies  in  attendance,  gifted  with 
prudence,  or  endowed  perhaps  with  the  amiable  desire  of 
acting  as  they  would  be  done  by,  did  not  conceive  their  duty 
to  the  Queen's  person  required  them,  though  they  lost  not 
sight  of  her,  to  approach  so  near  as  to  share,  or  perhaps  dis- 
turb, the  conversation  betwixt  the  Queen  and  the  earl,  who 
was  not  only  her  host,  but  also  her  most  trusted,  esteemed, 
and  favoured  servant.  They  contented  themselves  with  ad- 
miring the  grace  of  this  illustrious  couple,  whose  robes  of  state 
were  now  exchanged  for  hunting-suits,  almost  equally  mag- 
nificent. 

Elizabeth's  silvan  dress,  which  was  of  a  pale  blue  silk,  with 
silver  lace  and  aiguiUettes,  approached  in  form  to  that  of  the 
ancient  Amazons ;  and  was,  therefore,  well  suited  at  once  to 
her  height  and  to  the  dignity  of  her  mien,  which  her  conscious 
rank  and  long  habits  of  authority  had  rendered  in  some  degree 
too  masculine  to  be  seen  to  the  best  advantage  in  ordinary 
female  weeds.  Leicester's  hunting-suit  of  Lincoln  green, 
richly  embroidered  with  gold,  and  crossed  by  the  gay  baldric, 
which  sustained  a  bugle-horn,  and  a  wood-knife  instead  of  a 
sword,  became  its  master,  as  did  his  other  vestments  of  court 
or  of  war.  For  such  were  the  perfections  of  his  form  and 
mien,  that  Leicester  was  always  supposed  to  be  seen  to  the 
greatest  advantage  in  the  character  and  dress  which  for  the 
time  he  represented  or  wore. 

The  conversation  of  Elizabeth  and  the  favourite  earl  has 
not  reached  us  in  detail. '  But  those  who  watched  at  some  dis- 
tance (and  the  eyes  of  courtiers  and  court  ladies  are  right 
sharp)  were  of  opinion  that  on  no  occasion  did  the  dignity 
of  Elizabeth,  in  gesture  and  motion,  seem  so  decidedly  to 
soften  away  into  a  mien  expressive  of  indecision  and  tender- 
ness. Her  step  was  not  only  slow,  but  even  unequal,  a  thing 
most  unwonted  in  her  carriage ;  her  looks  seemed  bent  on  the 
ground,  and  there  was  a  timid  disposition  to  withdraw  from 
ber  companion,  which  external  gesture  in  females  often  indi- 
cates exactly  the  opposite  tendency  in  the  secret  mind.  The 
Duchess  of  Rutland,  who  ventured  nearest,  was  even  heard  to 
aver  that  she  discerned  a  tear  in  Elizabeth's  eye  and  a  blush 


KENILWORTH.  413 

on  her  cheek ;  and  still  farther,  "  She  bent  her  looks  on  the 
ground  to  avoid  mine, "  said  the  duchess ;  "  she  who,  in  her 
ordinary  mood,  could  look  down  a  lion."  To  what  conclusion 
these  symptoms  led  is  sufficiently  evident;  nor  were  they 
probably  entirely  groundless.  The  progress  of  a  private  con- 
versation betwixt  two  persons  of  different  sexes  is  often 
decisive  of  their  fate,  and  gives  it  a  turn  very  different  per- 
haps from  what  they  themselves  anticipated.  Gallantry  be- 
comes mingled  with  conversation,  and  affection  and  passion 
come  gradually  to  mix  with  gallantry.  Kobles,  as  well  as 
shepherd  swains,  will,  in  such  a  trying  moment,  say  more  than 
they  intended;  and  queens,  like  village  maidens,  will  listen 
longer  than  they  should. 

Horses  in  the  mean  while  neighed  and  champed  the  bits  with 
impatience  in  the  base-court ;  hounds  yelled  in  their  couples, 
and  yeomen,  rangers,  and  prickers  lamented  the  exhaling  of 
the  dew,  which  would  prevent  the  scent  from  lying.  But 
Leicester  had  another  chase  in  view,  or,  to  speak  more  justly 
towards  him,  had  become  engaged  in  it  without  premeditation, 
as  the  high-spirited  hunter  which  follows  the  cry  of  the  hounds 
that  have  crossed  his  path  by  accident.  The  Queen,  an  ac- 
complished and  handsome  woman — the  pride  of  England,  the 
hope  of  France  and  Holland,  and  the  dread  of  Spain,  had 
probably  listened  with  more  than  usual  favour  to  that  mixture 
of  romantic  gallantry  with  which  she  always  loved  to  be  ad- 
dressed; and  the  earl  had,  in  vanity,  in  ambition,  or  in  both, 
thrown  in  more  and  more  of  that  delicious  ingredient,  until 
his  importunity  became  the  language  of  love  itseK. 

*'Ko,  Dudley,"  said  Elizabeth,  yet  it  was  with  broken  ac- 
cents— "  no,  I  must  be  the  mother  of  my  people.  Other  ties, 
that  make  the  lowly  maiden  hajDpy,  are  denied  to  her  sov- 
ereign. No,  Leicester,  urge  it  no  more.  Were  I  as  others, 
free  to  seek  my  own  happiness,  then,  indeed — but  it  cannot — 
cannot  be.  Delay  the  chase — delay  it  for  half  an  hour — and 
leave  me,  my  lord." 

"How,  leave  you,  madam!"  said  Leicester.  "Has  my 
madness  offended  you?" 

"No,   Leicester,    not  so!"    answered  the   Queen,   hastily; 


414  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

"  but  it  is  madness,  and  must  not  be  repeated.  Go,  but  go 
not  far  from  hence ;  and  meantime  let  no  one  intrude  on  my 
privacy. " 

While  she  spoke  thus,  Dudley  bowed  deeply,  and  retired 
with  a  slow  and  melancholy  air.  The  Queen  stood  gazing 
after  him,  and  murmured  to  herself:  "Were  it  possible — 
were  it  but  possible!  But  no — no;  Elizabeth  must  be  the 
wife  and  mother  of  England  alone." 

As  she  spoke  thus,  and  in  order  to  avoid  some  one  whose 
step  she  heard  approaching,  the  Queen  turned  into  the  grotto 
in  which  her  hapless,  and  yet  but  too  successful,  rival  lay 
concealed. 

The  mind  of  England's  Elizabeth,  if  somewhat  shaken  by 
the  agitating  interview  to  which  she  had  just  put  a  period, 
was  of  that  firm  and  decided  character  which  soon  recovers 
its  natural  tone.  It  was  like  one  of  those  ancient  druidical 
monuments  called  rocking-stones.  The  finger  of  Cupid,  boy 
as  he  is  painted,  could  put  her  feelings  in  motion,  but  the 
power  of  Hercules  could  not  have  destroyed  their  equilibrium. 
As  she  advanced  with  a  slow  pace  towards  the  inmost  extrem- 
ity of  the  grotto,  her  countenance,  ere  she  had  proceeded  half 
the  length,  had  recovered  its  dignity  of  look  and  her  mien  its 
air  of  command. 

It  was  then  the  Queen  became  aware  that  a  female  figure 
was  placed  beside,  or  rather  partly  behind,  an  alabaster  col- 
imin,  at  the  foot  of  which  arose  the  pellucid  fountain,  which 
occupied  the  inmost  recess  of  the  twilight  grotto.  The  classi- 
cal mind  of  Elizabeth  suggested  the  story  of  Numa  and  Egeria, 
and  she  (k)ubted  not  that  some  Italian  sculptor  had  here  re- 
presented the  naiad  whose  inspirations  gave  laws  to  Eome. 
As  she  advanced,  she  became  doubtful  whether  she  beheld  a 
statue  or  a  form  of  flesh  and  blood.  The  unfortunate  Amy, 
indeed,  remained  motionless  betwixt  the  desire  which  she  had 
to  make  her  condition  known  to  one  of  her  own  sex  and  her 
awe  for  the  stately  form  which  approached  her,  and  which, 
though  her  eyes  had  never  before  beheld,  her  fears  instantly 
suspected  to  be  the  personage  she  really  was.  Amy  had 
arisen  from  her  seat  with  the  purpose  of  addressing  the  lady 


KENIL  WORTH.  415 

■who  entered  tlie  grotto  alone,  and,  as  she  at  Urst  thought,  so 
opportunely.  But  when  she  recollected  the  alarm  which 
Leicester  had  expressed  at  the  Queen's  knowing  aught  of  their 
union,  and  became  more  and  more  satisfied  that  the  person 
whom  she  now  beheld  was  Elizabeth  herself,  she  stood  with 
one  foot  advanced  and  one  withdrawn,  her  arms,  head,  and 
hands  perfectly  motionless,  and  her  cheek  as  pallid  as  the  ala- 
baster pedestal  agamst  which  she  leaned.  Her  dress  was  of 
pale  seargreen  silk,  little  distinguished  in  that  imperfect  light, 
and  somewhat  resembled  the  drapery  of  a  Grecian  nymph, 
such  an  antique  disguise  having  been  thought  the  most  secure, 
where  so  many  masquers  and  revellers  were  assembled;  so 
that  the  Queen's  doubt  of  her  being  a  living  form  was  well 
justified  by  all  contingent  circumstances,  as  well  as  by  the 
bloodless  cheek  and  the  fixed  eye. 

Elizabeth  remained  in  doubt,  even  after  she  had  approached 
within  a  few  paces,  whether  she  did  not  gaze  on  a  statue  so 
cunningly  fashioned  that  by  the  doubtful  light  it  could  not  be 
distinguished  from  reality.  She  stopped,  therefore,  and  fixed 
upon  this  interesting  object  her  princely  look  with  so  much 
keem^ess  that  the  astonishment  which  had  kept  Amy  immov- 
able gave  way  to  awe,  and  she  gradually  cast  down  her  eyes 
and  drooped  her  head  under  the  commanding  gaze  of  the 
sovereign.  Still,  however,  she  remained  in  all  respects,  sav- 
ing this  slow  and  profound  inclination  of  the  head,  motionless 
and  silent. 

From  her  dress,  and  the  casket  which  she  instinctively  held 
in  her  hand,  Elizabeth  naturally  conjectured  that  the  beauti- 
'  f ul  but  mute  figure  which  she  beheld  was  a  performer  in  one 
of  the  various  theatrical  pageants  which  had  been  placed  in 
different  situations  to  surprise  her  with  their  homage,  and  that 
the  poor  player,  overcome  with  awe  at  her  presence,  had 
either  forgot  the  part  assigned  her  or  lacked  courage  to  go 
through  it.  It  was  natural  and  courteous  to  give  her  some 
encouragement ;  and  Elizabeth  accordingly  said,  in  a  tone  of 
condescending  kindness :  "  How  now,  fair  nymph  of  this  lovely 
grotto,  art  thou  spell-bound  and  struck  with  dumbness  by  the 
charms  of  the  wicked  enchanter  whom  men  term  fear?    We 


416  WAVERLET  NOVELS. 

are  his  sworn  enemy,  maiden,  and  can  reverse  his  charm. 
Speak,  we  command  thee." 

Instead  of  answermg  her  by  speech,  the  unfortunate  coun- 
tess dropped  on  her  knee  before  the  Queen,  let  her  casket  fall 
from  her  hand,  and  clasping  her  palms  together,  looked  up  in 
the  Queen's  face  with  such  a  mixed  agony  of  fear  and  suppli- 
cation that  Elizabeth  was  considerably  affected. 

''What  may  this  mean?"  she  said;  "this  is  a  stronger 
passion  than  befits  the  occasion.  Stand  up,  damsel;  what 
wouldst  thou  have  with  us?" 

"  Your  protection,  madam, "  faltered  forth  the  unhappy  pe- 
titioner. 

"  Each  daughter  of  England  has  it  while  she  is  worthy  of 
it, "  replied  the  Queen ;  "  but  your  distress  seems  to  have  a 
deeper  root  than  a  forgotten  task.  Why,  and  in  what,  do  you 
crave  our  protection?" 

Amy  hastily  endeavoured  to  recall  what  she  were  best  to 
say,  which  might  secure  herself  from  the  imminent  dangers 
that  surrounded  her,  without  endangering  her  husband;  and 
plunging  from  one  thought  to  another,  amidst  the  chaos  which 
filled  her  mind,  she  could  at  length,  in  answer  to  the  Queen's 
repeated  inquiries  in  what  she  sought  protection,  only  falter 
out:  "Alas!  I  know  not." 

"  This  is  folly,  maiden, "  said  Elizabeth,  impatiently ;  for 
there  was  something  in  the  extreme  confusion  of  the  suppliant 
which  irritated  her  curiosity,  as  well  as  interested  her  feelings. 
"  The  sick  man  must  tell  his  malady  to  the  physician,  nor  are 
WE  accustomed  to  ask  questions  so  oft  without  receiving  an 
answer." 

"I  request — I  implore,"  stammered  forth  the  unfortunate 
countess — "I  beseech  your  gracious  protection — against — 
against  one  Varney."  She  choked  wellnigh  as  she  uttered  the 
fatal  word,  which  was  instantly  caught  up  by  the  Queen. 

"What  Varney?  Sir  Eichard  Varney — the  servant  of  Lord 
Leicester?     What,  damsel,  are  you  to  him,  or  he  to  you?" 

"  I — 1 — was  his  prisoner — and  he  practised  on  my  life — and 
I  broke  forth  to — to " 

"  To  throw  thyself  on  my  protection,  doubtless, "  said  Eliza- 


KE^^LWORTH.  417 

"beth,  "  Thou  shalt  have  it — that  is,  if  thou  art  worthy ;  for 
we  will  sift  this  matter  to  the  uttermost.  Thou  art,"  she 
said,  bending  on  the  countess  an  eye  which  seemed  designed 
to  pierce  her  very  inmost  soul—"  Thou  art  Amy,  daughter  of 
Sir  Hugh  Robsart  of  Lidcote  HaU?" 

"Forgive  me — forgive  me,  most  gracious  princess!"  said 
Amy,  droppiug  once  more  on  her  knee,  from  which  she  had 
arisen. 

"  For  what  should  I  forgive  thee,  silly  wench?"  said  Eliza- 
beth; "for  being  the  daughter  of  thine  own  father?  Thou 
art  brain-sick,  surely.  Well,  I  see  I  must  wring  the  story 
from  thee  by  inches.  Thou  didst  deceive  thine  old  and 
honoured  father — thy  look  confesses  it;  cheated  Master 
Tressilian — thy  blush  avouches  it;  and  married  this  same 
Varney?" 

Amy  sprung  on  her  feet,  and  interrupted  the  Queen  eagerly, 
with :  "  Xo,  madam — no ;  as  there  is  a  God  above  us,  I  am  not 
the  sordid  wretch  you  would  make  me !  I  am  not  the  wife  of 
that  contemptible  slave — of  that  most  deliberate  villain!  I 
am  not  the  wife  of  A'arney !  I  would  rather  be  the  bride  of 
destruction!" 

The  Queen,  overwhelmed  in  her  turn  by  Amy's  vehemence, 
stood  silent  for  an  instant,  and  then  replied:  "Why,  God  ha' 
mercy,  woman!  I  see  thou  canst  talk  fast  enough  when  the 
theme  likes  thee.  Nay,  tell  me,  woman,"  she  continued,  for 
to  the  impulse  of  curiosity  was  now  added  that  of  an  unde- 
fined jealousy  that  some  deception  had  been  practised  on  her — 
"tell  me,  woman — for,  by  God's  day,  I  will  know — whose 
wife,  or  whose  paramour,  art  thou?  Speak  out,  and  be 
speedy.  Thou  wert  better  dally  with  a  lioness  than  with 
Elizabeth." 

Urged  to  this  extremity,  dragged  as  it  were  by  irresistible 
force  to  the  verge  of  the  precipice,  which  she  saw  but  could 
not  avoid,  permitted  not  a  moment's  respite  by  the  eager 
words  and  menacing  gestures  of  the  offended  Queen,  Amy  at 
length  uttered  in  despair :  "  The  Earl  of  Leicester  knows  it  all." 

"The  Earl  of  Leicester!"  said  Elizabeth,  in  utter  astonish- 
ment.    "The  Earl  of  Leicester!"  she  repeated,  with  kindling 

27 


418  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

anger.  "Woman,  thou  art  set  on  to  this — thou  dost  belie 
him :  he  takes  no  keep  of  such  things  as  thou  art.  Thou  art 
suborned  to  slander  the  noblest  lord  and  the  truest-hearted 
gentleman  in  England !  But  were  he  the  right  hand  of  our 
trust,  or  something  yet  dearer  to  us,  thou  shalt  have  thy  hear- 
ing, and  that  in  his  presence.  Come  with  me — come  with  me 
instantly!" 

As  Amy  shrunk  back  with  terror,  which  the  incensed  Queen 
interpreted  as  that  of  conscious  guilt,  Elizabeth  rapidly  ad- 
vanced, seized  on  her  arm,  and  hastened  with  swift  and  long 
steps  out  of  the  grotto,  and  along  the  principal  alley  of  the 
Pleasance,  dragging  with  her  the  terrified  coimtess,  whom 
she  still  held  by  the  arm,  and  whose  utmost  exertions  could 
but  just  keep  pace  with  those  of  the  indignant  Queen. 

Leicester  was  at  this  moment  the  centre  of  a  splendid  group 
of  lords  and  ladies,  assembled  together  under  an  arcade,  or 
portico,  which  closed  the  alley.  The  company  had  drawn 
together  in  that  place  to  attend  the  commands  of  her  Majesty 
when  the  hunting-party  should  go  forward,  and  their  aston- 
ishment may  be  imagined  when,  instead  of  seeing  Elizabeth 
advance  towards  them  with  her  usual  measured  dignity  of 
motion,  they  beheld  her  walking  so  rapidly  that  she  was  in 
the  midst  of  them  ere  they  were  aware ;  and  then  observed, 
■with  fear  and  surprise,  that  her  features  were  flushed  betwixt 
anger  and  agitation,  that  her  hair  was  loosened  by  her  haste  of 
motion,  and  that  her  eyes  sparkled  as  they  were  wont  when 
the  spirit  of  Henry  VIII.  mounted  highest  in  his  daughter. 
Nor  were  they  less  astonished  at  the  appearance  of  the  pale, 
extenuated,  half-dead,  yet  still  lovely,  female  whom  the  Queen 
upheld  by  main  strength  with  one  hand,  while  with  the  other 
she  waved  aside  the  ladies  and  nobles  who  pressed  towards 
her,  under  the  idea  that  she  was  taken  suddenly  iU.  "  Where 
is  my  Lord  of  Leicester?"  she  said,  in  a  tone  that  thrilled 
with  astonishment  all  the  courtiers  who  stood  around.  "  Stand 
forth,  my  Lord  of  Leicester!" 

If,  in  the  midst  of  the  most  serene  day  of  summer,  when 
aU  is  light  and  laughing  around,  a  thimderbolt  were  to  fall 
from  the  clear  blue  vault  of  heaven,  and  rend  the  earth  at  the 


KENILWORTH.  419 

■very  feet  of  some  careless  traveller,  he  could  not  gaze  upon 
tlie  smouldering  chasm  which  so  unexpectedly  yawned  before 
him  with  haK  the  astonishment  and  fear  which  Leicester  felt 
at  the  sight  that  so  suddenly  presented  itself.  He  had  that 
instant  been  receiving,  with  a  political  affectation  of  disavow- 
ing and  misunderstanding  their  meaning,  the  half-uttered, 
half- intimated  congratulations  of  the  courtiers  upon  the  favour 
of  the  Queen,  carried  apparently  to  its  highest  pitch  during 
the  interview  of  that  morning;  from  which  most  of  them 
seemed  to  augur  that  he  might  soon  arise  from  their  equal  in 
rank  to  become  their  master.  And  now,  while  the  subdued 
yet  proud  smile  with  which  he  disclaimed  those  inferences  was 
yet  curling  his  cheek,  the  Queen  shot  iuto  the  circle,  her  pas- 
sions excited  to  the  uttermost ;  and,  supporting  with  one  hand, 
and  apparently  without  an  effort,  the  pale  and  sinking  form 
of  his  almost  expiring  wife,  and  pointing  with  the  finger  of 
the  other  to  her  half -dead  features,  demanded  in  a  voice  that 
sounded  to  the  ears  of  the  astounded  statesman  like  the  last 
dread  trumpet-call,  that  is  to  summon  body  and  spirit  to  the 
judgment-seat,  "Knowest  thou  this  woman?" 

As,  at  the  blast  of  that  last  trumpet,  the  guilty  shall  call 
upon  the  mountains  to  cover  them,  Leicester's  inward  thoughts 
invoked  the  stately  arch  which  he  had  built  in  his  pride  to 
burst  its  strong  conjunction  and  overwhelm  them  iu  its  ruins. 
But  the  cemented  stones,  architrave  and  battlement,  stood  fast  j 
and  it  was  the  proud  master  himself  who,  as  if  some  actual 
pressure  had  bent  him  to  the  earth,  kneeled  down  before 
Elizabeth,  and  prostrated  his  brow  to  the  marble  flagstones 
on  which  she  stood. 

"  Leicester, "  said  Elizabeth,  in  a  voice  which  trembled  with 
passion,  "  could  I  think  thou  hast  practised  on  me — on  me  thy 
sovereign — on  me  thy  confiding,  thy  too  partial  mistress,  the 
base  and  ungrateful  deception  which  thy  present  confusion 
surmises — by  all  that  is  holy,  false  lord,  that  head  of  thine 
were  iu  as  great  peril  as  ever  was  thy  father's!" 

Leicester  had  not  conscious  innocence,  but  he  had  pride,  to 
support  him.  He  raised  slowly  his  brow  and  features,  which 
were  black  and  swolu  with  contending  emotions,  and  only  re- 


420  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

plied :  " My  head  cannot  fall  but  by  the  sentence  of  my  peers; 
to  them  I  will  plead,  and  not  to  a  princess  who  thus  requites 
my  faithful  service!" 

"What!  my  lords,"  said  Elizabeth,  looking  around,  "we 
are  defied,  I  think — defied  in  the  castle  we  have  ourselves  be- 
stowed on  this  proud  man!  My  Lord  Shrewsbury,  you  are 
marshal  of  England,  attach  him  of  high  treason!" 

"Whom  does  your  Grace  mean!"  said  Shrewsbury,  much 
surprised,  for  he  had  that  instant  joined  the  astonished 
circle. 

"Whom  should  I  mean  but  that  traitor,  Dudley  Earl  of 
Leicester !  Cousin  of  Hunsdon,  order  out  yoiu-  band  of  gen- 
tlemen pensioners,  and  take  him  into  instant  custody.  I  say, 
villain,  make  haste!" 

Hunsdon,  a  rough  old  noble,  who,  from  his  relationship  to 
the  Boleyns,  was  accustomed  to  use  more  freedom  with  the 
Queen  than  almost  any  other  dared  to  do,  replied  bluntly: 
"  And  it  is  like  your  Grace  might  order  me  to  the  Tower  to- 
morrow for  making  too  much  haste.  I  do  beseech  you  to  be 
patient. " 

"Patient!  God's  life!"  exclaimed  the  Queen,  "name  not 
the  word  to  me;  thou  know'st  not  of  what  he  is  guilty!" 

Amy,  who  had  by  this  time  in  some  degree  recovered  her- 
self, and  who  saw  her  husband,  as  she  conceived,  in  the  utmost 
danger  from  the  rage  of  an  offended  sovereign,  instantly  (and 
alas !  how  many  women  have  done  the  same)  forgot  her  own 
wrongs  and  her  own  danger  in  her  apprehensions  for  him,  and 
throwing  herself  before  the  Queen,  embraced  her  knees,  while 
she  exclaimed :  "  He  is  guiltless,  madam — he  is  guiltless :  no 
one  can  lay  aught  to  the  charge  of  the  noble  Leicester!" 

"Why,  minion,"  answered  the  Queen,  "didst  not  thou  thy- 
self say  that  the  Earl  of  Leicester  was  privy  to  thy  whole 
history?" 

"Did  I  say  so?"  repeated  the  unhappy  Amy,  laying  aside 
every  consideration  of  consistency  and  of  self-interest;  "  Oh,  if 
T  did,  I  foully  belied  him.  May  God  so  judge  me,  as  I  be- 
lieve he  was  never  privy  to  a  thought  that  would  harm  me!" 

"  Woman !"  said  Elizabeth,  "  I  will  know  who  has  moved 


KENILWORTH.  421 

thee  to  this ;  or  my  wrath — and  the  wrath  of  kings  is  a  flam- 
ing fire — shall  wither  and  consume  thee  like  a  weed  in  the 
furnace." 

As  the  Queen  uttered  this  threat,  Leicester's  better  angel 
called  his  pride  to  his  aid,  and  reproached  him  with  the  utter 
extremity  of  meanness  which  Avould  overwhelm  him  for  ever 
if  he  stooped  to  take  shelter  under  the  generous  interposition 
of  his  wife,  and  abandoned  her,  in  return  for  her  kindness,  to 
the  resentment  of  the  Queen.  He  had  already  raised  his  head, 
with  the  dignity  of  a  man  of  honour,  to  avow  his  marriage, 
and  proclaim  himseK  the  protector  of  his  countess,  when  Var- 
ney,  born,  as  it  appeared,  to  be  his  master's  evil  genius,  rushed 
into  the  presence,  with  every  mai-k  of  disorder  on  his  face  and 
appai-el. 

"What  means  this  saucy  intrusion?"  said  Elizabeth. 

Yarney,  with  the  air  of  a  man  altogether  overwhelmed  with 
grief  and  confusion,  prostrated  himself  before  her  feet,  ex- 
claiming :  "  Pardon,  my  liege — pardon !  or  at  least  let  your  jus- 
tice avenge  itself  on  me,  where  it  is  due ;  but  spare  my  noble, 
my  generous,  my  innocent  patron  and  master!" 

Amy,  who  was  yet  kneelin'g,  started  up  a,s  she  saw  the  man 
whom  she  deemed  most  odi*"us  place  himself  so  near  her,  and 
svas  about  to  fly  towards  I  -ncester,  when,  checked  at  once  by 
the  uncertainty  and  eve^  timidity  which  his  looks  had  reas- 
Bunied  as  soon  as  the  appearance  of  his  confidant  seemed  to 
open  a  new  scene^  she  /lung  back,  and,  uttering  a  faint  scream, 
besought  of  her  M?,iV;sty  to  cause  her  to  be  imprisoned  in  the 
lowest  dungeon  cf  fhe  castle — to  deal  with  her  as  the  worst  of 
criminals — "  bvi>  spare, "  she  exclaimed,  "  my  sight  and  hear- 
ing what  will  destroy  the  little  judgment  I  have  left — the 
sight  of  that  unutterable  and  most  shameless  villain!" 

"And  why,  sweetheart?"  said  the  Queen,  moved  by  a  new 
impulse;  **what  hath  he,  this  false  knight,  since  such  thou 
accountest  him,  done  to  thee?" 

"Oh,  worse  than  sorrow,  madam,  and  worse  than  injury: 
he  has  sown  dissension  where  most  there  should  be  peace.  I 
shall  go  mad  if  I  look  longer  on  him!" 

''Beshrew  me,  but  I  thmk  thou  art  distraught  already," 


422  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

answered  the  Queen.  "  My  Lord  Huns  don,  look  to  this  poor 
distressed  young  woman,  and  let  her  be  safely  bestowed  and 
in  honest  keeping  till  we  require  her  to  be  forthcoming." 

Two  or  three  of  the  ladies  in  attendance,  either  moved  by 
compassion  for  a  creature  so  interesting  or  by  some  other  mo- 
tive, offered  their  service  to  look  after  her;  but  the  Queen 
briefly  answered :  "  Ladies,  under  favour,  no.  You  have  aU, 
give  God  thanks !  sharp  ears  and  nimble  tongues ;  our  kinsman 
Hunsdon  has  ears  of  the  dullest,  and  a  tongue  somewhat  rough, 
but  yet  of  the  slowest.  Hunsdon,  look  to  it  that  none  have 
speech  of  her." 

"  By  Our  Lady!"  said  Hunsdon,  taking  in  his  strong,  sinewy 
arms  the  fading  and  almost  swooning  form  of  Amy,  "  she  is  a 
lovely  child ;  and  though  a  rough  nurse,  your  Grace  hath  given 
her  a  kind  one.  She  is  safe  with  me  as  one -of  my  own  lady- 
birds of  daughters." 

So  saying,  he  carried  her  off,  unresistingly  and  almost  un- 
consciously;  his  war-worn  locks  and  long  grey  beard  mingling 
with  her  light-brown  tresses,  as  her  head  reclined  on  his  strong 
square  shoulder.  The  Queen  followed  him  with  her  eye ;  she 
had  already,  with  that  seK-command  which  forms  so  necessary 
a  part  of  a  sovereign's  accomplishments,  suppressed  every  ap- 
pearance of  agitation,  and  seemed  as  if  she  desired  to  banish 
fill  traces  of  her  burst  of  passion  from  the  recollection  of  those 
who  had  witnessed  it.  "  My  Lord  of  Hunsdon  says  well,"  she 
observed;  "he  is  indeed  but  a  rough  nurse  for  so  tender  a 
babe." 

"My  Lord  of  Hunsdon,"  said  the  Dean  of  St.  Asaph's,  "I 
speak  it  not  in  defamation  of  his  more  noble  qualities,  hath 
a  broad  license  in  speech,  and  garnishes  his  discourse  some- 
what too  freely  with  the  cruel  and  superstitious  oaths,  which 
savour  both  of  profaneness  and  of  old  Papistrie." 

"  It  is  the  fault  of  his  blood,  Mr.  Dean, "  said  the  Queen, 
turning  sharply  round  upon  the  reverend  dignitary  as  she 
spoke ;  "  and  you  may  blame  mine  for  the  same  distempera- 
ture.  The  Boleyns  were  ever  a  hot  and  plain-spoken  race, 
more  hasty  to  speak  their  mind  than  careful  to  choose  their 
expressions.      And,  by  my  word — I  hope  there  is  no  sin  in. 


KENILWORTa  423 

that  affirmation? — I  question  if  it  were  much  cooled  by  mix- 
ing with  that  of  Tudor." 

As  she  made  this  last  observation,  she  smiled  graciously, 
and  stole  her  eyes  almost  insensibly  round  to  seek  those  of  the 
Earl  of  Leicester,  to  whom  she  now  began  to  think  she  had 
spoken  with  hasty  harshness  upon  the  unfounded  suspicion  of 
a  moment. 

The  Queen's  eye  found  the  earl  in  no  mood  to  accept  the 
implied  offer  of  conciliation.  His  own  looks  had  followed, 
with  late  and  rueful  repentance,  the  faded  form  which  Huns- 
don  had  just  borne  from  the  presence;  they  now  reposed 
gloomily  on  the  ground,  but  more — so  at  least  it  seemed  to 
Elizabeth — with  the  expression  of  one  who  has  received  an 
unjust  affront  than  of  him  who  is  conscious  of  guilt.  She 
turned  her  face  angrily  from  him,  and  said  to  Varney :  "  Speak, 
Sir  Richard,  and  explain  these  riddles ;  thou  hast  sense  and 
the  use  of  speech,  at  least,  which  elsewhere  we  look  for  in 
vain." 

As  she  said  this,  she  darted  another  resentful  glance  towards 
Leicester,  while  the  wily  Varney  hastened  to  tell  his  own 
story. 

"Your  Majesty's  piercing  eye,"  he  said,  "has  already  de- 
tected the  cruel  malady  of  my  beloved  lady ;  which,  unhappy 
that  I  am,  I  would  not  suffer  to  be  expressed  in  the  certificate 
of  her  physician,  seeking  to  conceal  what  has  now  broken  out 
with  so  much  the  more  scandal." 

"She  is  then  distraught?"  said  the' Queen;  "indeed,  we 
doubted  not  of  it :  her  whole  demeanour  bears  it  out.  I  found 
her  moping  in  a  corner  of  yonder  grotto ;  and  every  word  she 
spoke — which  indeed  I  dragged  from  her  as  by  the  rack — she 
instantly  recalled  and  forswore.  But  how  came  she  hither? 
Why  had  you  her  not  in  safe-keeping?" 

"  My  gracious  liege, "  said  Varney,  "  the  worthy  gentleman 
under  whose  charge  I  left  her.  Master  Anthony  Foster,  has 
come  hither  but  now,  as  fast  as  man  and  horse  can  travel,  to 
show  me  of  her  escape,  which  she  managed  with  the  art  pecul- 
iar to  many  who  are  afflicted  with  this  malady.  He  is  at 
hand  for  examination. " 


424  WA^^ERLEY  NOVELS. 

"  Let  it  be  for  anotlier  time, "  said  the  Queen.  "  But,  Sii 
Richard,  we  envy  you  not  your  domestic  felicity :  youi-  lady 
railed  on  you  bitterly,  and  seemed  ready  to  swoon  at  behold- 
ing you." 

"  It  is  the  nature  of  persons  in  her  disorder,  so  please  your 
Grace, "  answered  Varney,  "  to  be  ever  most  inveterate  in  their 
spleen  against  those  whom,  in  their  better  moments,  they  hold 
nearest  and  dearest." 

"  We  have  heard  so,  indeed, "  said  Elizabeth,  "  and  give 
faith  to  the  saying." 

"  May  your  Grace  then  be  pleased, "  said  Varney,  "  to  com- 
mand my  unfortunate  wife  to  be  delivered  into  the  custody  of 
her  friends?" 

Leicester  partly  started;  but,  making  a  strong  effort,  he 
subdued  his  emotion,  while  Elizabeth  answered  sharply :  "  You 
are  something  too  hasty,  Master  Varney ;  we  will  have  first  a 
report  of  the  lady's  health  and  state  of  mind  from  Masters, 
our  own  physician,  and  then  determine  what  shall  be  thought 
just.  You  shall  have  license,  however,  to  see  her,  that,  if 
there  be  any  matrimonial  quarrel  betwixt  you — siich  things- 
we  have  heard  do  occur,  even  betwixt  a  loving  couple — you 
may  make  it  up,  without  further  scandal  to  oux  court  or  trouble 
to  ourselves." 

Varney  bowed  low,  and  made  no  other  answer. 

Elizabeth  again  looked  towards  Leicester,  and  said,  with  a 
degree  of  condescension  which  could  only  arise  out  of  the  most 
heartfelt  interest :  "  Discord,  as  the  Italian  poet  says,  will  find 
her  way  into  peaceful  convents,  as  well  as  into  the  privacy  of 
families ;  and  we  fear  our  own  guards  and  ushers  will  hardly 
exclude  her  from  courts.  My  Lord  of  Leicester,  you  are 
offended  with  us,  and  we  have  right  to  be  offended  with  you. 
We  will  take  the  lion's  part  upon  us,  and  be  the  first  to 
forgive." 

Leicester  smoothed  his  brow,  as  by  an  effort,  but  the  trouble 
was  too  deep-seated  that  its  placidity  should  at  once  return. 
He  said,  however,  that  which  fitted  the  occasion:  "That  he 
could  not  have  the  happiness  of  forgiving,  because  she  who 
commanded  him  to  do  so  could  commit  no  injury  towards  him." 


KENILWORTH.  426 

Elizabeth  seemed  content  with  this  reply,  and  intimated  her 
pleasure  that  the  sports  of  the  morning  should  proceed.  The 
bugles  sounded — the  hounds  bayed — the  horses  pranced ;  but 
the  courtiers  and  ladies  sought  the  amusement  to  which  they 
were  summoned  with  hearts  very  different  from  those  which 
had  leaped  to  the  morning's  reville.  There  was  doubt,  and 
fear,  and  expectation  on  every  brow,  and  surmise  and  intrigue 
in  every  whisper. 

Blount  took  an  opportunity  to  whisper  into  Raleigh's  ear: 
*'  This  storm  came  like  a  levanter  in  the  Mediterranean. " 

"  Varium  et  mutahile, "  answered  Ealeigh,  in  a  similar  tone. 

"  iSTay,  I  know  nought  of  your  Latin, "  said  Blount ;  "  but  I 
thank  God  Tressilian  took  not  the  sea  during  that  hurricano. 
He  could  scarce  have  missed  shipwreck,  knowing  as  he  does 
so  little  how  to  trim  his  sails  to  a  court  gale. " 

"  Thou  wouldst  have  instructed  him?"  said  Raleigh. 

"Why,  I  have  profited  by  my  time  as  well  as  thou,  Sir 
Walter, "  replied  honest  Blount.  "  I  am  knight  as  well  as 
thou,  and  of  the  earlier  creation." 

"  Now,  God  further  thy  wit, "  said  Raleigh ;  "  but  for  Tres- 
silian, I  would  1  knew  what  were  the  matter  with  him.  He 
told  me  this  morning  he  woidd  not  leave  his  chamber  for  the 
space  of  twelve  hours  or  thereby,  being  bound  by  a  promise. 
This  lady's  madness,  when  he  shall  learn  it,  will  not,  I  fear, 
cure  his  infirmity.  The  moon  is  at  the  fullest,  and  men's 
brains  are  working  like  yeast.  But  hark!  they  sound  to 
mo  tint.  Let  us  to  horse,  Blount:  we  young  knights  must 
deeerre  our  spurs." 


426  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 


CHAPTER   XXXV. 

Sincerity, 
Thou  first  of  virtues,  let  no  mortal  leave 
The  onward  path,  although  the  earth  should  gape, 
And  from  the  gulf  of  hell  destruction  cry, 
To  take  dissimulation's  winding  way. 

Douglas. 

It  was  not  till  a  long  and  successful  morning's  sport,  and  a 
prolonged  repast  which  followed  the  return  of  the  Queen  to 
the  castle,  that  Leicester  at  length  found  himself  alone  with 
Varney,  from  whom  he  now  learned  the  whole  particulars  of 
the  countess's  escape,  as  they  had  been  brought  to  Kenil worth 
by  Foster,  who,  in  his  terror  for  the  consequences,  had  him- 
self posted  thither  with  the  tidings.  As  Varney,  in  his  nar- 
rative, took  especial  care  to  be  silent  concerning  those  prac- 
tices on  the  countess's  health  which  had  driven  her  to  so 
desperate  a  resolution,  Leicester,  who  could  only  suppose  that 
she  had  adopted  it  out  of  jealous  impatience  to  attain  the 
avowed  state  and  appearance  belonging  to  her  rank,  was  not  a 
little  offended  at  the  levity  with  which  his  wife  had  broken 
his  strict  commands,  and  exposed  him  to  the  resentment  of 
Elizabeth. 

"I  have  given,"  he  said,  "to  this  daughter  of  an  obscure 
Devonshire  gentleman  the  proudest  name  in  England.  I  have 
made  her  sharer  of  my  bed  and  of  my  fortunes.  I  ask  but  of 
her  a  little  patience,  ere  she  launches  forth  upon  the  full  cur- 
rent of  her  grandeur,  and  the  infatuated  woman  will  rather 
hazard  her  own  shipwreck  and  mine,  will  rather  involve  me  in 
a  thousand  whirlpools,  shoals,  and  quicksands,  and  compel  me 
to  a  thousand  devices  which  shame  me  in  mine  own  eyes,  than 
tarry  for  a  little  space  longer  in  the  obscurity  to  which  she 
was  born.  So  lovely,  so  delicate,  so  fond,  so  faithful,  yet  to 
lack  in  so  grave  a  matter  the  prudence  which  one  might  hope 
from  the  veriest  fool — it  puts  me  beyond  my  patience." 

"  We  may  post  it  over  yet  well  enough,  "said  Varney,  "  if 
my  lady  will  be  but  ruled,  and  take  on  her  the  character 
which  the  time  coimnands." 


KENILWORTH.  427 

"  It  is  but  too  true,  Sir  Richard, "  said  Leicester,  "  there  is 
indeed  no  other  remedy.  I  have  heard  her  termed  thy  wife  in 
my  presence,  without  contradiction.  She  must  bear  the  title 
until  she  is  far  from  Kenilworth." 

"  And  long  afterwards,  I  trust, "  said  Varney ;  then  instantly 
added :  "  For  I  cannot  but  hope  it  will  be  long  after  ere  she 
bear  the  title  of  Lady  Leicester :  I  fear  me  it  may  scarce  be 
with  safety  during  the  life  of  this  Queen.  But  your  lordship 
is  best  judge,  you  alone  knowing  what  passages  have  taken 
place  betwixt  Elizabeth  and  you." 

"You  are  right,  Varney,"  said  Leicester;  "I  have  this 
morning  been  both  fool  and  villain ;  and  when  Elizabeth  hears 
of  my  unhappy  marriage,  she  cannot  but  think  herself  treated 
with  that  premeditated  slight  which  women  never  forgive. 
We  have  once  this  day  stood  upon  terms  little  short  of  de- 
fiance; and  to  those,  I  fear,  we  must  agaia  return." 

"Is  her  resentment,  then,  so  implacable?"  said  Varney, 

"  Far  from  it, "  replied  the  earl ;  "  for,  being  what  she  is  in 
spirit  and  in  station,  she  has  even  this  day  been  but  too  con- 
descending, in  giving  me  opportunities  to  repair  what  she 
thinks  my  faulty  heat  of  temper. " 

"  Ay, "  answered  Varney ;  "  the  Italians  say  right :  in  lovers' 
quarrels  the  party  that  loves  most  is  always  most  willing  to 
acknowledge  the  greater  fault.  So  then,  my  lord,  if  this 
union  with  the  lady  could  be  concealed,  you  stand  with  Eliza- 
beth as  you  did?" 

Leicester  sighed,  and  was  silent  for  a  moment,  ere  he  re- 
plied. 

"  Varney,  I  think  thou  art  true  to  me,  and  I  will  tell  thee 
all.  I  do  not  stand  where  I  did.  I  have  spoken  to  Elizabeth 
— under  what  mad  impulse  I  know  not — on  a  theme  which 
cannot  be  abandoned  without  touching  every  female  feeling  to 
the  quick,  and  which  yet  I  dare  not  and  cannot  prosecute. 
She  can  never,  never  forgive  me  for  having  caused  and  wit- 
nessed those  yieldings  to  human  passion." 

"  We  must  do  something,  my  lord,"  said  Varney,  "  and  that 
speedily. " 

"  There  is  nought  to  be  done, "  answered  Leicester,  despond- 


428  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

iugly;  "I  am  like  one  that  lias  long  toiled  up  a  dangerous 
precipice,  and  when  he  is  within  one  joerilous  stride  of  the  top, 
finds  his  progress  arrested  when  retreat  has  become  impossible. 
I  see  above  me  the  pinnacle  which  I  cannot  reach,  beneath  me 
the  abyss  into  which  I  must  fall,  as  soon  as  my  relaxing  grasp 
and  dizzy  brain  join  to  hurl  me  from  my  present  precarious 
stance." 

"Think  better  of  your  situation,  my  lord,"  said  Varney; 
"  let  us  try  the  experiment  in  which  you  have  but  now  ac- 
quiesced. Keep  we  your  marriage  from  Elizabeth's  knowl- 
edge, and  all  may  yet  be  well.  I  will  instantly  go  to  the  lady 
myself.  She  hates  me,  because  I  have  been  earnest  with  your 
lordship,  as  she  truly  suspects,  in  opposition  to  what  she  terms 
her  rights.  I  care  not  for  her  prejudices.  She  shall  listen  to 
me ;  and  I  will  show  her  such  reasons  for  yielding  to  the  pres- 
sure of  the  times,  that  I  doubt  not  to  bring  back  her  consent 
to  whatever  measures  these  exigencies  may  require." 

"No,  Varney,"  said  Leicester:  "I  have  thought  upon  what 
is  to  be  done,  and  I  will  myself  speak  with  Amy." 

It  was  now  Varney' s  turn  to  feel,  upon  his  own  account^ 
the  terrors  which  he  affected  to  participate  solely  on  account  of 
his  patron.  "  Your  lordship  will  not  yourself  speak  with  the 
lady?" 

"  It  is  my  fixed  purpose, "  said  Leicester ;  "  fetch  me  one  of 
the  livery  cloaks;  I  will  pass  the  sentinel  as  thy  servant. 
Thou  art  to  have  free  access  to  her." 

"  But,  my  lord " 

"I  will  have  no  'buts, '"  replied  Leicester;  "it  shall  be 
even  thus,  and  not  otherwise.  Hiuisdon  sleeps,  I  think,  in 
Saintlowe's  Tower.  We  can  go  thither  from  these  apartments 
by  the  private  passage,  without  risk  of  meeting  any  one.  Or 
what  if  I  do  meet  Hunsdon?  he  is  more  my  friend  than  enemy, 
and  thick-witted  enough  to  adopt  any  belief  that  is  thrust  oa 
him.     Fetch  me  the  cloak  instantly. " 

Varney  had  no  alternative  save  obedience.  In  a  few  minutes 
Leicester  was  muffled  in  the  mantle,  pulled  his  bonnet  over 
his  brows,  and  followed  Varney  along  the  secret  passage  of 
the  castle  which  communicated  with  Hunsdon's  apartments^ 


KENILWORTH.  429 

in  whicli  there  was  scarce  a  chance  of  meeting  any  inquisitive 
person,  and  hardly  light  enough  for  any  such  to  have  satisfied 
their  curiosity.  They  emerged  at  a  door  where  Lord  Hunsdou 
had,  with  military  precaution,  placed  a  sentinel,  one  of  his 
own  northern  retainers  as  it  fortuned,  who  readily  admitted 
Sir  Eichard  Varney  and  his  attendant,  sayiag  only,  in  his 
northern  dialect :  "  I  would,  man,  thou  couldst  make  the  mad 
lady  be  still  yonder;  for  her  moans  do  sae  dirl  thi-ough  my 
head  that  I  would  rather  keep  watch  on  a  snow-drift  in  the 
wastes  of  Catlowdie." 

They  hastily  entered,  and  shut  the  door  behind  them. 

"Now,  good  devil,  if  there  be  one,"  said  Varney,  within 
himself,  "  for  once  help  a  votary  at  a  dead  pinch,  for  my  boat 
is  amongst  the  breakers!" 

The  Countess  Amy,  with  her  hair  and  her  garments  dis- 
hevelled, was  seated  upon  a  sort  of  couch,  in  an  attitude  of 
the  deepest  affliction,  out  of  which  she  was  startled  by  the 
opening  of  the  door.  She  turned  hastily  round,  and,  fixing 
her  eye  on  Varney,  exclaimed:  "Wretch!  art  thou  come  to 
frame  some  new  plan  of  villainy?" 

Leicester  cut  short  her  reproaches  by  stepping  forward  and 
dropping  his  cloak,  while  he  said,  in  a  voice  rather  of  author- 
ity than  of  affection :  *'  It  is  with  me,  madam,  you  have  to 
commune,  not  with  Sir  Richard  Varney." 

The  change  effected  on  the  countess's  look  and  manner  was 
like  magic.  "Dudley!"  she  exclaimed — "Dudley!  and  art 
thou  come  at  last?"  And  with  the  speed  of  lightning  she 
flew  to  her  husband,  clung  around  his  neck,  and,  unheeding 
the  presence  of  Varney,  overwhelmed  him  with  caresses,  while 
she  bathed  his  face  in  a  flood  of  tears ;  muttering,  at  the  same 
time,  but  in  broken  and  disjointed  monosyllables,  the  fondest 
expressions  which  love  teaches  his  votaries. 

Leicester,  as  it  seemed  to  him,  had  reason  to  be  angry  with 
his  lady  for  transgressing  his  commands,  and  thus  placing  him 
in  the  perilous  situation  in  which  he  had  that  morning  stood. 
But  what  displeasure  could  keep  its  ground  before  these  testi- 
monies of  affection  from  a  being  so  lovely  that  even  the  negli- 
gence of  dress,  and  the  withering  effects  of  feai-,  grief,  and 


430  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

fatigue,  which  would  have  impaired  the  beauty  of  others, 
rendered  hers  but  the  more  interesting !  He  received  and  re- 
paid her  caresses  with  fondness,  mingled  with  melancholy,  the 
last  of  which  she  seemed  scarcely  to  observe,  until  the  first 
transport  of  her  own  joy  was  over;  when,  looking  anxiously 
in  his  face,  she  asked  if  he  was  ill. 

"Not  in  my  body.  Amy,"  was  his  answer. 

"Then  I  will  be  well  too.  Oh,  Dudley!  I  have  been  ill! — 
very  ill,  since  we  last  met! — for  I  call  not  this  morning's  hor- 
rible vision  a  meeting.  I  have  been  in  sickiiess,  in  grief,  and 
in  danger.  But  thou  art  come,  and  all  is  joy,  and  health,  and 
safety!" 

"Alas!  Amy,"  said  Leicester,  "thou  hast  undone  me!" 

"I,  my  lord!"  said  Amy,  her  cheek  at  once  losing  its  tran- 
sient flush  of  joy;  "how  could  I  injure  that  which  I  love 
better  than  myself?" 

"I  would  not  upbraid  you,  Amy,"  replied  the  earl;  "but 
are  you  not  here  contrary  to  my  express  commands ;  and  does 
not  your  presence  here  endanger  both  yourself  and  me?" 

"Does  it — does  it  indeed?"  she  exclaimed,  eagerly;  "then 
"why  am  I  here  a  moment  longer?  Oh,  if  you  knew  by  what 
fears  I  was  urged  to  quit  Cumnor  Place !  But  I  will  say  noth- 
ing of  myself,  only  that,  if  it  might  be  otherwise,  I  would  not 
wUlingly  return  thither  ;  yet  if  it  concern  your  safety " 

"  We  will  think.  Amy,  of  some  other  retreat, "  said  Leices- 
ter; "and  you  shall  go  to  one  of  my  northern  castles,  under 
the  personage — it  will  be  but  needful,  I  trust,  for  a  very  few 
days — of  Varney's  wife." 

"How,  my  Lord  of  Leicester!"  said  the  lady,  disengaging 
herself  from  his  embraces ;  "  is  it  to  your  wife  you  give  the 
dishonourable  counsel  to  acknowledge  herself  the  bride  of  an- 
other— and  of  all  men,  the  bride  of  that  Varney?" 

"Madam,  I  speak  it  in  earnest.  Varney  is  my  true  and 
faithful  servant,  trusted  in  my  deepest  secrets.  I  had  better 
lose  my  right  hand  than  his  service  at  this  moment.  You 
have  no  cause  to  scorn  him  as  you  do." 

"  I  could  assign  one,  my  lord, "  replied  the  countess ;  "  and 
I  see  he  shakes  even  under  that  assured  look  of  his.     But  he 


KENILWORTH.  431 

that  is  necessary  as  your  right  hand  to  your  safety  is  free 
from  any  accusation  of  mine.  May  he  he  true  to  you;  and 
that  he  may  be  true,  trust  him  not  too  much  or  too  far.  But 
It  is  enough  to  say,  that  I  will  not  go  with  him  unless  by  vio- 
lence, nor  would  I  acknowledge  him  as  my  husband  were 
all " 

"  It  is  a  temporary  deception,  madam, "  said  Leicester,  irri- 
tated by  her  opposition,  "necessary  for  both  our  safeties, 
endangered  by  you  through  female  caprice,  or  the  premature 
desire  to  seize  on  a  rank  to  which  I  gave  you  title  only  under 
condition  that  our  marriage,  for  a  time,  should  continue  secret. 
If  my  proposal  disgust  you,  it  is  yourself  has  brought  it  on 
both  of  us.  There  is  no  other  remedy:  you  must  do  what 
your  own  impatient  folly  hath  rendered  necessary — I  com- 
mand you." 

"  I  cannot  put  your  commands,  my  lord, "  said  Amy,  "  in 
balance  with  those  of  honour  and  conscience.  I  will  not,  in 
this  instance,  obey  you.  You  may  achieve  your  own  dis- 
honour, to  which  these  crooked  policies  naturally  tend;  but  I 
will  do  nought  that  can  blemish  mine.  How  could  you  again, 
my  lord,  acknowledge  me  as  a  pure  and  chaste  matron,  worthy 
to  share  your  fortunes,  when,  holding  that  high  character, 
I  had  strolled  the  country  the  acknowledged  wife  of  such  a 
profligate  fellow  as  your  servant  Varney?" 

"  My  lord, "  said  Varney,  interposing,  *'  my  lady  is  too  miich 
prejudiced  against  me,  unhappily,  to  listen  to  what  I  can 
offer ;  yet  it  may  please  her  better  than  what  she  proposes. 
She  has  good  interest  with  Master  Edmund  TressUian,  and 
could  doubtless  prevail  on  him  to  consent  to  be  her  companion 
to  Lidcote  Hall,  and  there  she  might  remain  in  safety  until 
time  permitted  the  development  of  this  mystery. " 

Leicester  was  silent,  but  stood  looking  eagerly  on  Amy, 
with  eyes  which  seemed  suddenly  to  glow  as  much  with  sus- 
picion as  displeasure. 

The  countess  only  said :  "  Would  to  God  I  were  in  my  fa- 
ther's house!  When  I  left  it,  I  little  thought  I  was  leaving 
peace  of  mind  and  honour  behind  me. " 

Varney  proceeded  with  a  tone  of  deliberation.     "  Doubtless 


432  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

tMs  will  make  it  necessary  to  take  strangers  into  my  lord's 
counsels;  but  surely  the  countess  will  be  warrant  for  the 
honour  of  Master  Tressilian  and  such  of  her  father's 
family " 

"Peace,  Varney,"  said  Leicester;  "by  Heaven,  I  will  strike 
my  dagger  into  thee,  if  again  thou  namest  Tressilian  as  a 
partner  of  my  counsels!" 

"And  wherefore  not?"  said  the  countess;  "unless  they  be 
counsels  fitter  for  such  as  Varney  than  for  a  man  of  stainless 
honour  and  integrity.  My  lord — my  lord,  bend  no  angry 
brows  on  me ;  it  is  the  truth,  and  it  is  I  who  speak  it.  I  once 
did  Tressilian  wrong  for  your  sake ;  I  will  not  do  him  the 
further  injustice  of  being  silent  when  his  honour  is  brought  in 
question.  I  can  forbear,"  she  said,  looking  at  Varney,  "to 
pull  the  mask  off  hypocrisy,  but  I  will  not  permit  virtue  to  be 
slandered  in  my  hearing." 

There  was  a  dead  pause.  Leicester  stood  displeased,  yet 
undetermined,  and  too  conscious  of  the  weakness  of  his  cause ; 
while  Varney,  with  a  deep  and  hypocritical  affectation  of  sor- 
row, mingled  with  humility,  bent  his  eyes  on  the  ground. 

It  was  then  that  the  Countess  Amy  displayed,  in  the  midst 
of  distress  and  difficulty,  the  natural  energy  of  character 
which  would  have  rendered  her,  had  fate  allowed,  a  distin- 
guished ornament  of  the  rank  which  she  held.  She  walked 
up  to  Leicester  with  a  composed  step,  a  dignified  air,  and 
looks  in  which  strong  affection  essayed  in  vain  to  shake  the 
firmness  of  conscious  truth  and  rectitude  of  principle.  "  You 
have  spoke  your  mind,  my  lord,"  she  said,  "in  these  difficul- 
ties, with  which,  unhappily,  I  have  found  myself  unable  to 
comply.  This  gentleman — this  person,  I  would  say — has 
hinted  at  another  scheme,  to  which  I  object  not  but  as  it  dis- 
pleases you.  Will  your  lordship  be  pleased  to  hear  what  a 
young  and  timid  woman,  but  your  most  affectionate  wife,  can 
suggest  in  the  present  extremity?" 

Leicester  was  silent,  but  bent  his  head  towards  the  countess, 
as  an  intimation  that  she  was  at  liberty  to  proceed. 

"  There  hath  been  but  one  cause  for  all  these  evils,  my  lord, " 
she  proceeded,  "  and  it  resolves  itself  into  the  mysterious  du- 


KENILWORTH.  433 

plicity  with  which  you  have  been  induced  to  surround  your- 
self. Extricate  yourself  at  once,  my  lord,  from  the  tyranny 
of  these  disgraceful  trammels.  Be  like  a  true  English  gentle- 
man, knight,  and  earl,  who  holds  that  truth  is  the  foundation 
of  honour,  and  that  honour  is  dear  to  him  as  the  breath  of  his 
nostrils.  Take  your  ill-fated  wife  by  the  hand ;  lead  her  to 
the  footstool  of  Elizabeth's  throne ;  say  that :  'In  a  moment  of 
infatuation,  moved  by  supposed  beauty,  of  which  none  per- 
haps can"  now  trace  even  the  remains,  I  gave  my  hand  to  this 
Amy  Eobsart.'  You  will  then  have  done  justice  to  me,  my 
lord,  and  to  your  own  honour ;  and  should  law  or  power  re- 
quire you  to  part  from  me,  I  will  oppose  no  objection,  since  I 
may  then  with  honour  hide  a  grieved  and  broken  heart  in  those 
shades  from  which  your  love  withdrew  me.  Then — have  but 
a  little  patience,  and  Amy's  life  will  not  long  darken  your 
brighter  prospects." 

There  was  so  much  of  dignity,  so  much  of  tenderness,  in 
the  countess's  remonstrance  that  it  moved  all  that  was  noble 
and  generous  in  the  soul  of  her  husband.  The  scales  seemed 
to  fall  from  his  eyes,  and  the  duplicity  and  tergiversation  of 
•which  he  had  been  guilty  stung  him  at  once  with  remorse  and 
shame. 

"I  am  not  worthy  of  you.  Amy,"  he  said,  "that  could 
weigh  aught  which  ambition  has  to  give  against  such  a  heart 
as  thine!  I  have  a  bitter  penance  to  perform,  in  disen- 
tangling, before  sneering  foes  and  astoimded  friends,  all  the 
meshes  of  my  own  deceitful  policy.  And  the  Queen — but  let 
her  take  my  head,  as  she  has  threatened." 

"Your  head,  my  lord!"  said  the  coimtess;  "because  you 
used  the  freedom  and  liberty  of  an  English  subject  in  choosmg 
a  wife?  For  shame;  it  is  this  distrust  of  the  Queen's  justice, 
this  apprehension  of  danger,  which  cannot  but  be  imaginaiy, 
that,  like  scarecrows,  have  induced  you  to  forsake  the  straight- 
forward path,  which,  as  it  is  the  best,  is  also  the  safest." 

"Ah,  Amy,  thou  little  kno west!"  said  Dudley;  but,  in- 
stantly checking  himself,  he  added :  "  Yet  she  shall  not  find 
in  me  a  safe  or  easy  victim  of  arbitrary  vengeance.  I  have 
friends — I  have  allies — I  will  not,  like  Norfolk,  be  dragged 
28 


434  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

to  the  block  as  a  victim  to  sacrifice.  Fear  not,  Amy;  thou 
shalt  see  Dudley  bear  himself  worthy  of  his  name.  I  must 
instantly  communicate  with  some  of  those  friends  on  whom  I 
can  best  rely ;  for,  as  things  stand,  I  may  be  made  prisoner  in 
my  own  castle." 

"Oh,  my  good  lord,"  said  Amy,  "make  no  faction  in  a 
peaceful  state !  There  is  no  friend  can  help  us  so  well  as  our 
own  candid  truth  and  honour.  Bring  but  these  to  our  assist- 
ance, and  you  are  safe  amidst  a  whole  army  of  the  envious 
and  malignant.  Leave  these  behind  you,  and  all  other  de- 
fence will  be  fruitless.  Truth,  my  noble  lord,  is  well  pain,ted 
unarmed. " 

"But  wisdom.  Amy,"  answered  Leicester,  "is  arrayed  in 
panoply  of  proof.  Argue  not  with  me  on  the  means  I  shall 
use  to  render  my  confession — since  it  must  be  called  so — as 
safe  as  may  be ;  it  will  be  fraught  with  enough  of  danger,  do 
what  we  will.  Varney,  we  must  hence.  Farewell,  Amy, 
whom  I  am  to  vindicate  as  mine  own  at  an  expense  and  risk 
of  which  thou  alone  couldst  be  worthy!  You  shall  soon  hear 
farther  from  me." 

He  embraced  her  fervently,  muffled  himself  as  before,  and 
accompanied  Varney  from  the  apartment.  The  latter,  as  he 
left  the  room,  bowed  low,  and,  as  he  raised  his  body,  regarded 
Amy  with  a  peculiar  expression,  as  if  he  desired  to  know  how 
far  his  own  pardon  was  included  in  the  reconciliation  which 
had  taken  place  betwixt  her  and  her  lord.  The  countess 
looked  upon  him  with  a  fixed  eye,  but  seemed  no  more  con- 
scious of  his  presence  than  if  there  had  been  nothing  but 
vacant  air  on  the  spot  where  he  stood. 

"  She  has  brought  me  to  the  crisis, "  he  muttered.  "  She 
or  I  are  lost.  There  was  something — I  wot  not  if  it  was  fear 
or  pity — that  prompted  me  to  avoid  this  fatal  crisis.  It  is 
now  decided.     She  or  I  must  perish. " 

While  he  thus  spoke,  he  observed,  with  surprise,  that  a 
boy,  repulsed  by  the  sentinel,  made  up  to  Leicester  and  spoke 
with  him.  Varney  was  one  of  those  politicians  whom  not  th& 
slightest  appearances  escape  without  inquiry.  He  asked  tha 
sentinel  what  the  lad  wanted  with  him,  and  received  for  an- 


KENILWORTH.  435 

«wer,  that  the  boy  had'wished  him  to  transmit  a  parcel  to  the 
mad  lady,  but  that  he  cared  not  to  take  charge  of  it,  such 
communication  being  beyond  his  commission.  His  curiosity 
satisfied  in  that  particular,  he  approached  his  patron  and 
heard  him  say :  "  Well,  boy,  the  packet  shall  be  delivered. " 

"Thanks,  good  Master  Serving-man,"  said  the  boy,  and 
Avas  out  of  sight  in  an  instant. 

Leicester  and  Varney  returned  with  hasty  steps  to  the  earl's 
private  apartment  by  the  same  passage  which  had  conducted 
them  to  Saintlowe's  Tower. 


CHAPTER  XXXVI. 

I  have  said 
This  is  an  adulteress,  I  have  said  with  whom-. 
More,  she's  a  traitor,  and  Camillo  is 
A  federary  with  her,  and  one  that  knows 
What  she  should  shame  to  know  herself. 

Winter's  Tale. 

They  were  no  sooner  in  the  earl's  cabinet  than,  taking  his 
tablets  from  his  pocket,  he  began  to  write,  speaking  partly  to 
Yarney  and  party  to  himself :  "  There  are  many  of  them  close 
bounden  to  me,  and  especially  those  in  good  estate  and  high 
office ;  many  who,  if  they  look  back  towards  my  benefits,  or 
forward  towards  the  perils  which  may  befall  themselves,  will 
not,  I  think,  be  disposed  to  see  me  stagger  unsupported.  Let 
me  see — Knollis  is  sure,  and  through  his  means  Guernsey  and 
Jersey.  Horsey  commands  in  the  Isle  of  Wight.  My 
brother-in-law,  Huntingdon,  and  Pembroke  have  authority  in 
Wales.  Through  l^edford  I  lead  the  Puritans,  with  their  in- 
terest, so  powerful  in  all  the  boroughs.  My  brother  of  War- 
wick is  equal,  wellnigh,  to  myself  in  wealth,  followers,  and 
dependencies.  Sir  Owen  Hopton  is  at  my  devotion ;  he  com- 
mands the  Tower  of  London,  and  the  national  treasure  de- 
posited there.  My  father  and  grandfather  needed  never  to 
have  stooped  their  heads  to  the  block  had  they  thus  forecast 
their  enterprises.      Why  look  you  so  sad,   Varney?     I  tell 


436  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

thee,  a  tree  so  deep-rooted  is  not  easily  to  be  torn  up  by  the 
tempest." 

"  Alas !  my  lord, "  said  Varney,  with  well-acted  passion,  and 
then  resumed  the  same  look  of  despondency  which  Leicester 
had  before  noted. 

"Alas!"  repeated  Leicester,  "and  wherefore  alas.  Sir 
Richard?  Doth  your  new  spirit  of  chivalry  supply  no  more 
vigorous  ejaculation  when  a  noble  struggle  is  impending? 
Or,  if  'alas'  means  thou  wilt  flinch  from  the  conflict,  thou 
mayst  leave  the  castle,  or  go  join  mine  enemies,  whichever 
thou  thinkest  best." 

"Not  so,  my  lord,"  answered  his  confidant;  "Varney  will 
be  found  fighting  or  dying  by  your  side.  Forgive  me,  if,  in 
love  to  you,  I  see  more  fully  than  your  noble  heart  permits 
you  to  do  the  inextricable  difficulties  with  which  you  are  sur- 
rounded. You  are  strong,  my  lord,  and  powerful ;  yet,  let  me 
say  it  without  offence,  you  are  so  only  by  the  reflected  light  of 
the  Queen's  favour.  While  you  are  Elizabeth's  favourite  you 
are  all,  save  in  name,  like  an  actual  sovereign.  But  let  her 
call  back  the  honours  she  has  bestowed,  and  the  prophet's 
gourd  did  not  wither  more  suddenly.  Declare  against  the 
Queen,  and  I  do  not  say  that  in  the  wide  nation,  or  in  this 
province  alone,  you  would  find  yourself  instantly  deserted  and 
outnumbered;  but  I  will  say,  that  even  in  this  very  castle, 
and  in  the  midst  of  your  vassals,  kinsmen,  and  dependants, 
you  would  be  a  captive,  nay,  a  sentenced  captive,  should  she 
please  to  say  the  word.  Think  upon  Norfolk,  my  lord — upon 
the  powerful  Northumberland — the  splendid  Westmoreland — 
think  on  all  who  have  made  head  against  this  sage  princess. 
They  are  dead,  captive,  or  fugitive.  This  is  not  like  other 
thrones,  which  can  be  overturned  by  a  combination  of  power- 
ful nobles :  the  broad  foundations  which  support  it  are  in  the 
extended  love  and  affections  of  the  people.  You  might  share 
it  with  Elizabeth  if  you  would;  but  neither  yours  nor  any 
other  power,  foreign  or  domestic,  will  avail  to  overthrow  or 
even  to  shake  it. " 

He  paused,  and  Leicester  threw  his  tablets  from  him  with 
an  air  of  reckless  despite.     "  It  may  be  as  thou  say'st, "  he 


KENILWORTH.  437 

said ;  "  and,  in  sootli,  I  care  not  whether  truth  or  cowardice' 
dictate  thy  forebodings.  But  it  shall  not  be  said  I  fell  with- 
out a  struggle.  Give  orders  that  those  of  my  retainers  who 
served  under  me  in  Ireland  be  gradually  drawn  into  the  main 
keep,  and  let  our  gentlemen  and  friends  stand  on  their  guard, 
and  go  armed,  as  if  they  expected  an  onset  fi-om  the  followers 
of  Sussex.  Possess  the  townspeople  with  some  apprehension ; 
let  them  take  arms  and  be  ready,  at  a  signal  given,  to  over- 
power the  pensioners  and  yeomen  of  the  guaid. " 

"  Let  me  remind  you,  my  lord, "  said  Varney,  with  the  samfr 
appearance  of  deep  and  melancholy  interest,  "  that  you  have 
given  me  orders  to  prepare  for  disarmmg  the  Queen's  guard.  It 
is  an  act  of  high  treason,  but  you  shall  nevertheless  be  obeyed. " 

"I  care  not,"  said  Leicester,  desperately — "I  care  not. 
Shame  is  behind  me,  ruin  before  me;  I  must  on." 

Here  there  was  another  pause,  which  Varney  at  length 
broke  with  the  following  words :  "  It  is  come  to  the  point  I 
have  long  dreaded.  I  must  either  witness,  like  an  ungrateful 
beast,  the  downfall  of  the  best  and  kindest  of  masters,  or  I 
must  speak  what  I  would  have  buried  in  the  deepest  oblivion, 
or  told  by  any  other  mouth  than  mine." 

"What  is  that  thou  sayst,  or  wouldst  say?"  replied  the 
earl;  "we  have  no  time  to  waste  on  words,  when  the  time 
calls  us  to  action." 

"  ]\Iy  speech  is  soon  made,  my  lord — would  to  God  it  were 
as  soon  answered!  Your  marriage  is  the  sole  cause  of  the 
threatened  breach  with  your  sovereign,  my  lord,  is  it  not?" 

"Thou  knowest  it  is!"  replied  Leicester.  ""What  needs  so 
fi'uitless  a  question?" 

"Pardon  me,  my  lord,"  said  Varney;  "the  use  lies  here. 
Men  wiU  wager  their  lands  and  lives  in  defence  of  a  rich 
diamond,  my  lord;  but  were  it  not  first  prudent  to  look  if 
there  is  no  flaw  in  it?" 

"  What  means  this?"  said  Leicester,  with  eyes  sternly  fixed 
on  his  dependant;  "of  whom  dost  thou  dare  to  speak?" 

"  It  is — of  the  Countess  Amy,  my  lord,  of  whom  I  am  un- 
happily bound  to  speak ;  and  of  whom  I  loill  speak,  were  your 
lordship  to  kill  me  for  my  zeal," 


438  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

"  Thou  mayst  happen  to  deserve  it  at  my  hand, "  said  the 
earl;  "  but  speak  on,  I  will  hear  thee." 

''  Nay,  then,  my  lord,  I  will  be  bold.  I  speak  for  my  own 
life  as  well  as  for  your  lordship's.  I  like  not  this  lady's 
tampering  and  trickstering  with  this  same  Edmund  Tressilian. 
You  know  him,  my  lord.  You  know  he  had  formerly  an  in- 
terest in  her,  which  it  cost  your  lordship  some  pains  to  super- 
sede. You  know  the  eagerness  with  which  he  has  pressed  on 
the  suit  against  me  in  behalf  of  this  lady,  the  open  object  of 
ivhich  is  to  drive  your  lordship  to  an  avowal  of  what  I  must 
ever  call  your  most  unhappy  marriage,  the  point  to  which  my 
lady  also  is  willing,  at  any  risk,  to  urge  you." 

Leicester  smiled  constrainedly.  "  Thou  meanest  weU,  good 
Sir  Eichard,  and  wouldst,  I  think,  sacrifice  thine  own  honour, 
as  well  as  that  of  any  other  person,  to  save  me  from  what  thou 
think'st  a  step  so  terrible.  But,  remember" — he  spoke  these 
words  with  the  most  stern  decision — "you  speak  of  the 
Countess  of  Leicester." 

"  I  do,  my  lord, "  said  Varney ;  "  but  it  is  for  the  welfare  of 
the  Earl  of  Leicester.  My  tale  is  but  begun.  I  do  most 
strongly  believe  that  this  Tressilian  has,  from  the  beginning 
of  his  moving  in  her  cause,  been  in  connivance  with  her  lady- 
ship the  countess." 

*'  Thou  speak'st  wild  madness,  Varney,  with  the  sober  face 
of  a  preacher.  Where  or  how  could  they  communicate  to- 
gether?" 

"  My  lord, "  said  Varney,  "  unfortunately  I  can  show  that 
but  too  well.  It  was  just  before  the  supplication  was  pre- 
sented to  the  Queen,  in  Tressilian' s  name,  that  I  met  him,  to 
my  utter  astonishment,  at  the  postern  gate  which  leads  from 
the  demesne  at  Cumnor  Place." 

"Thou  met'st  him,  villain!  and  why  didst  thou  not  strike 
him  dead?"  exclaimed  Leicester. 

*'  I  drew  on  him,  my  lord,  and  he  on  me ;  and  had  not  my 
foot  slipped,  he  would  not,  perhaps,  have  been  again  a 
stumbling-block  in  your  lordship's  path." 

Leicester  seemed  struck  dumb  with  surprise.  At  length  he 
answered :  "  What  other  evidence  hast  thou  of  this,  Varney, 


KENILWORTH.  439 

save  thine  own  assertion?  for,  as  I  will  punish,  deeply,  I  will 
examine  coolly  and  warily.  Sacred  Heaven !  but  no — I  will  ex- 
amine coldly  and  warily — coldly  and  warily."  He  repeated 
these  words  more  than  once  to  himself,  as  if  in  the  very  sound 
there  was  a  sedative  quality ;  and  again  compressing  his  lips, 
as  if  he  feared  some  violent  expression  might  escape  from 
them,  he  asked  again :  "  What  farther  proof?" 

"  Enough,  my  lord, "  said  Varney,  "  and  to  spare.  I  would 
it  rested  with  me  alone,  for  with  me  it  might  have  been 
silenced  for  ever.  But  my  servant,  Michael  Lambourne,  wit- 
nessed the  whole,  and  was,  indeed,  the  means  of  first  intro- 
ducing Tressilian  into  Cumnor  Place  j  and  therefore  I  took 
him  into  my  service,  and  retained  him  in  it,  though  something 
of  a  debauched  fellow,  that  I  might  have  his  tongue  always 
under  my  own  command."  He  then  acquainted  Lord  Leicester 
how  easy  it  was  to  prove  the  circumstance  of  their  interview 
true,  by  evidence  of  Anthony  Foster,  with  the  corroborative 
testimonies  of  the  various  persons  at  Cumnor,  who  had  heard 
the  wager  laid,  and  had  seen  Lambourne  and  Tressilian  set 
off  together.  In  the  whole  narrative,  Varney  hazarded  noth- 
ing fabulous,  excepting  that,  not  indeed  by  direct  assertion, 
but  by  inference,  he  led  his  patron  to  suppose  that  the  inter- 
view betwixt  Amy  and  Tressilian  at  Cumnor  Place  had  been 
longer  than  the  few  minutes  to  which  it  was  in  reality  limited. 

"And  wherefore  was  I  not  told  of  all  this?"  said  Leicester, 
sternly.  "  Why  did  all  of  ye — and  in  particular  thou,  Var- 
ney— keep  back  from  me  such  material  information?" 

"  Because,  my  lord, "  replied  Varney,  "  the  countess  pre- 
tended to  Foster  and  to  me  that  Tressilian  had  intruded  him- 
self upon  her ;  and  I  concluded  their  interview  had  been  in  all 
honour,  and  that  she  would  at  her  own  time  tell  it  to  your 
lordship.  Your  lordship  knows  with  what  imwilling  ears  we 
listen  to  evil  surmises  against  those  whom  we  love;  and  I 
thank  Heaven  I  am  no  make-bate  or  informer,  to  be  the  first 
to  sow  them." 

"  You  are  but  too  ready  to  receive  them,  however.  Sir 
Richard,"  replied  his  patron.  "How  know'st  thou  that  this 
interview  was  not  in  all  honour,  as  thou  hast  said?    Methinka 


440  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

the  wife  of  the  Earl  of  Leicester  might  speak  for  a  short  time 
with  such  a  person  as  Tressilian  without  injury  to  me  or  sus- 
picion to  herself." 

"  Questionless,  my  lord, ''  answered  Varney ;  "  had  I  thought 
otherwise,  I  had  been  no  keeper  of  the  secret.  But  here  lies 
the  rub :  Tressilian  leaves  not  the  place  without  establishing 
a  correspondence  with  a  poor  man,  the  landlord  of  an  inn  in 
Cumnor,  for  the  purpose  of  carr3dng  off  the  lady.  He  sent 
down  an  emissary  of  his,  whom  I  trust  soon  to  have  in  right 
sure  keeping  under  Mervyn's  Tower.  Killigrew  and  Lambs- 
bey  are  scouidng  the  country  in  quest  of  him.  The  host  is 
rewarded  with  a  ring  for  keeping  counsel ;  your  lordshij)  may 
have  noted  it  on  Tressilian' s  hand — here  it  is.  This  fellow, 
this  agent  makes  his  way  to  the  Place  as  a  pedlar,  holds  con- 
ferences with  the  lady,  and  they  make  their  escape  together  by 
night ;  rob  a  poor  fellow  of  a  horse  by  the  way,  such  was  their 
guilty  haste  j  and  at  length  reach  this  castle,  whisre  the  Coun- 
tess of  Leicester  finds  refuge — I  dare  not  say  in  what  place." 

"Speak,  I  command  thee,"  said  Leicester — "speak,  while 
I  retain  sense  enough  to  hear  thee." 

"  Since  it  must  be  so, "  answered  Varney,  "  the  lady  resorted 
immediately  to  the  apartment  of  Tressilian,  where  she  re- 
mained many  hours,  partly  in  company  with  him  and  partly 
alone.  I  told  you  Tressilian  had  a  paramour  in  his  chamber; 
I  little  dreamed  that  paramour  was " 

"Amy,  thou  wouldst  say,"  answered  Leicester;  "but  it  is 
false — false  as  the  smoke  of  hell !  Ambitious  she  may  be — 
fickle  and  impatient — 'tis  a  woman's  fault;  but  false  to  me! 
never,  never.  The  proof — the  proof  of  this!"  he  exclaimed, 
hastily. 

"Carrol,  the  deputy-marshal,  iishered  her  thither  by  her 
own  desire  on  yesterday  afternoon;  Lambourne  and  the 
warder  both  found  her  there  at  an  early  hour  this  morning. " 

"Was  Tressilian  there  with  her?"  said  Leicester  in  the 
same  hurried  tone. 

"No,  my  lord.  You  may  remember,"  answered  Yai-ney, 
"that  he  was  that  night  placed  with  Sir  ]S"icholas  Blount, 
under  a  species  of  arrest. " 


KENILWORTH.  441 

"Did  Carrol,  or  the  other  fellows,  know  who  she  was?" 
demanded  Leicester. 

"Xo,  luy  lord,"  replied  Varney.  "Carrol  aud  the  warder 
had  never  seen  the  countess,  and  Lambourne  knew  her  not  in 
her  disguise ;  but,  in  seeking  to  prevent  her  leaving  the  cell, 
he  obtained  possession  of  one  of  her  gloves,  which,  I  think, 
your  lordship  may  know." 

He  gave  the  glove,  which  had  the  bear  and  ragged  staff,  the 
earl's  impress,  embroidered  upon  it  in  seed-pearls. 

"I  do — I  do  recognise  it,"  said  Leicester.  "They  were 
my  own  gift.  The  fellow  of  it  was  on  the  arm  which  she 
threw  this  very  day  around  my  neck."  He  spoke  this  with 
violent  agitation. 

"Your  lordship,"  said  Yarney,  "might  yet  further  inquire 
of  the  lady  herself  respecting  the  truth  of  these  passages. " 

"It  needs  not — it  needs  not,"  said  the  tortured  earl:  " it  is 
written  in  characters  of  burning  light,  as  if  they  were  branded 
on  my  very  eyeballs!  I  see  her  infamy, — I  can  see  nought 
else;  aud — gracious  Heaven! — for  this  vile  woman  was  I 
about  to  commit  to  danger  the  lives  of  so  many  noble  friends 
— shake  the  foundation  of  a  lawful  throne — carry  the  sword 
and  torch  through  the  bosom  of  a  peaceful  land — wi-ong  the 
kind  mistress  who  made  me  Avhat  I  am,  and  would,  but  for 
that  hell-framed  marriage,  have  made  me  all  that  man  can  be ! 
All  this  I  was  ready  to  do  for  a  woman  who  trinkets  and 
traffics  with  my  worst  foes!  And  thou,  villain,  why  didst 
thou  not  speak  sooner?" 

"  My  lord,"  said  Yarney,  "  a  tear  from  my  lady  would  have 
blotted  out  all  I  could  have  said.  Besides,  I  had  not  these 
proofs  until  this  very  morning,  when  Anthony  Foster's  sudden 
arrival,  with  the  examinations  and  declai-ations  which  he  had 
extorted  from  the  innkeeper  Gosling  and  others,  explained  the 
manner  of  her  flight  from  Cumnor  Place,  and  my  own  re- 
searches discovered  the  steps  which  she  had  taken  here." 

"  Xow,  may  God  be  praised  for  the  light  He  has  given !  so 
full,  so  satisfactory,  that  there  breathes  not  a  man  in  England 
who  shall  call  my  proceeding  rash  or  my  revenge  unjust. 
And  yet,  Varney,  so  young,  so  fair,  so  fawning,  and  so  false  I 


442  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

Hence,  then,  her  hatred  to  thee,  my  trusty,  my  well-beloved 
servant,  because  you  withstood  her  plots  and  endangered  hei 
paramour's  life!" 

"  I  never  gave  her  any  other  cause  of  dislike,  my  lord,"  re- 
plied Varney ;  "  but  she  knew  that  my  counsels  went  directly 
to  diminish  her  influence  with  your  lordship,  and  that  I  was, 
and  have  been,  ever  ready  to  peril  my  life  against  your 
enemies." 

"  It  is  too,  too  apparent, "  replied  Leicester ;  "  yet,  with 
what  an  air  of  magnanimity  she  exhorted  me  to  commit  my 
head  to  the  Queen's  mercy  rather  than  wear  the  veil  of  false- 
hood a  moment  longer !  Methinks  the  angel  of  truth  himself 
can  have  no  such  tones  of  high-souled  impulse.  Can  it  be 
so,  Varney?  Can  falsehood  use  thus  boldly  the  language  of 
truth?  Can  infamy  thus  assume  the  guise  of  purity?  Var- 
ney, thou  hast  been  my  servant  from  a  child;  I  have  raised 
thee  high — can  raise  thee  higher.  Think — think  for  me! 
Thy  brain  was  ever  shrewd  and  piercing.  May  she  not  be 
innocent?  Prove  her  so,  and  all  I  have  yet  done  for  thee 
shall  be  as  nothing — nothing — in  comparison  of  thy  recom- 
pense!" 

The  agony  with  which  his  master  spoke  had  some  effect 
even  on  the  hardened  Varney,  who,  in  the  midst  of  his  own 
wicked  and  ambitious  designs,  really  loved  his  patron  as  well 
as  such  a  wretch  was  capable  of  loving  anything ;  but  he  com- 
forted himself,  and  subdued  his  self-reproaches,  with  the  re- 
flection that,  if  he  inflicted  upon  the  earl  some  immediate  and 
transitory  pain,  it  was  in  order  to  pave  his  way  to  the  throne, 
which,  were  this  marriage  dissolved  by  death  or  otherwise,  he 
deemed  Elizabeth  would  willingly  share  with  his  benefactor. 
He  therefore  persevered  in  his  diabolical  policy;  and,  after  a 
moment's  consideration,  answered  the  anxious  queries  of  the 
earl  with  a  melancholy  look,  as  if  he  had  in  vain  sought  some 
exculpation  for  the  countess ;  then  suddenly  raising  his  head, 
he  said,  with  an  expression  of  hope,  which  instantly  com- 
municated itself  to  the  countenance  of  his  patron:  "Yet 
wherefore,  if  guilty,  should  she  have  perilled  herself  by  com- 
ing hither?     Why  not  rather  have  fled  to  her  father's  or 


KENILWORTH.  443 

elsewhere? — though  that,  indeed,  might  have  interfered  with 
her  desire  to  be  acknowledged  as  Countess  of  Leicester." 

"True — true — true!"  exclaimed  Leicester,  his  transient 
gleam  of  hope  giving  way  to  the  utmost  bitterness  of  feeling 
and  expression;  "thou  art  not  fit  to  fathom  a  woman's  depth 
©f  wit,  Varney.  I  see  it  all.  She  would  not  quit  the  estate 
and  title  of  the  wittol  who  had  wedded  her.  Ay,  and  if  in  my 
madness  I  had  started  into  rebellion,  or  if  the  angry  Queen 
had  taken  my  head,  as  she  this  morning  threatened,  the 
wealthy  dower  which  law  would  have  assigned  to  the  Countess 
Dowager  of  Leicester  had  been  no  bad  windfall  to  the  beggarly 
Tressilian.  Well  might  she  goad  me  on  to  danger,  which 
could  not  end  otherwise  than  profitable  to  her.  Speak  not 
for  her,  Varney;  I  will  have  her  blood!" 

"  My  lord»"  replied  Varney,  "  the  wildness  of  your  distress 
breaks  forth  in  the  wildness  of  your  language. " 

"  I  say,  speak  not  for  her, "  replied  Leicester ;  "  she  has  dis- 
honoured me — she  would  have  murdered  me ;  all  ties  are  burst 
between  us.  She  shall  die  the  death  of  a  traitress  and  adul- 
teress, well  merited  both  by  the  laws  of  God  and  man !  And 
— what  is  this  casket, "  he  said,  "  which  was  even  now  thrust 
into  my  hand  by  a  boy,  with  the  desire  I  would  convey 
it  to  Tressilian,  as  he  could  not  give  it  to  the  countess? 
By  Heaven!  the  words  surprised  me  as  he  spoke  them, 
though  other  matters  chased  them  from  my  brain;  but 
now  they  return  with  double  force.  It  is  her  casket  of 
jewels !  Force  it  open,  Varney — force  the  hinges  open  with 
thy  poniard." 

"  She  refused  the  aid  of  my  dagger  once, "  thought  Varney, 
as  he  unsheathed  the  weapon,  "  to  cut  the  string  which  bound 
a  letter,  but  now  it  shall  Avork  a  mightier  ministry  in  her  for- 
tunes." 

With  this  reflection,  by  using  the  three-cornered  stiletto- 
blade  as  a  wedge,  he  forced  open  the  slender  silver  hinges  of 
the  casket.  The  Earl  no  sooner  saw  them  give  way  than  he 
snatched  the  casket  from  Sir  Richard's  hand,  wrenched  off  the 
cover,  and  tearing  out  the  splendid  contents,  flung  them  on 
the  floor  in  a  transport  of  rage,  while  he  eagerly  searched  for 


444  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

some  letter  or  billet  which  should  make  the  fancied  guilt  of 
his  innocent  countess  j^et  more  apparent.  Then  stamping 
furiously  on  the  gems,  he  exclaimed :  "  Thus  I  annihilate  the 
miserable  toys  for  which  thou  hast  sold  thyself,  body  and 
soul,  consigned  thyself  to  an  early  and  timeless  death,  and  me 
to  misery  and  remorse  for  ever !  Tell  me  not  of  forgiveness, 
Varney.     She  is  doomed!" 

So  saying,  he  left  the  room,  and  rushed  into  an  adjacent 
closet,  the  door  of  which  he  locked  and  bolted. 

Vamey  looked  after  him,  while  something  of  a  more  human 
feeling  seemed  to  contend  with  his  habitual  sneer.  "  I  am 
sorry  for  his  weakness, "  he  said,  "  but  love  has  made  him  a 
child.  He  throws  down  and  treads  on  these  costly  toys ;  with 
the  same  vehemence  would  he  dash  to  pieces  this  frailest  toy 
of  all,  of  which  he  used  to  rave  so  fondly.  But  that  taste 
also  will  be  forgotten  when  its  object  is  no  more.  Well,  he 
has  no  eye  to  value  things  as  they  deserve,  and  that  nature 
has  given  to  Yarney.  When  Leicester  shall  be  a  sovereign, 
he  will  think  as  little  of  the  gales  of  passion  through  which  he 
gained  that  royal  port  as  ever  did  sailor  in  harbour  of  the 
perils  of  a  voyage.  But  these  tell-tale  articles  must  not  re- 
main here :  they  are  rather  too  rich  vails  for  the  drudges  who 
dress  the  chamber." 

While  Varney  was  employed  in  gathering  together  and 
putting  them  into  a  secret  drawer  of  a  cabinet  that  chanced  to 
be  unlocked,  he  saw  the  door  of  Leicester's  closet  open,  the 
tapestry  pushed  aside,  and  the  earl's  face  thrust  cut,  but  with 
eyes  so  dead,  and  lips  and  cheeks  so  bloodless  and  pale,  that 
he  started  at  the  sudden  change.  No  sooner  did  his  eyes 
encounter  the  earl's  than  the  latter  withdrew  his  head  and 
shut  the  door  of  the  closet.  This  manoeuvre  Leicester  repeat- 
ed twice,  without  speaking  a  word,  so  that  Varney  began  to 
doubt  whether  his  brain  was  not  actually  affected  by  his  mental 
agony.  The  third  time,  however,  he  beckoned,  and  Varney 
obeyed  the  signal.  When  he  entered,  he  soon  found  his 
patron's  perturbation  was  not  caused  by  insanity,  but  by  the 
fellness  of  purpose  which  he  entertained  contending  with 
various  contrary  passions.     They  passed  a  full  hour  in  close 


KENILWORTH.  445 

consultation;  after  which  the  Earl  of  Leicester,  with  an  in- 
credible exertion,  dressed  himself  and  went  to  attend  his 
royal  guest. 


CHAPTER   XXXVII. 

You  have  displaced  the  mirth,  broke  the  good  meeting 
With  most  admired  disorder. 

Macbeth. 

It  was  afterwards  remembered  that,  during  the  banquets 
and  revels  which  occupied  the  remainder  of  this  eventful  day, 
the  bearing  of  Leicester  and  of  Varney  were  totally  different 
from  their  usual  demeanour.  Sir  Eichard  Varney  had  been 
held  rather  a  man  of  counsel  and  of  action  than  a  votary  of 
pleasure.  Business,  whether  civil  or  military,  seemed  always 
to  be  his  proper  sphere ;  and  while  in  festivals  and  revels, 
although  he  well  understood  how  to  trick  them  up  and  present 
them,  his  own  part  was  that  of  a  mere  spectator;  or,  if  he 
exercised  his  wit,  it  was  in  a  rough,  caustic,  and  severe 
manner,  rather  as  if  he  scoffed  at  the  exhibition  and  the 
guests  than  shared  the  common  pleasure. 

But  upon  the  present  day  his  character  seemed  changed. 
He  mixed  |^among  the  younger  courtiers  and  ladies,  and  ap- 
peared for  the  moment  to  be  actuated  by  a  spirit  of  light- 
hearted  gaiety  which  rendered  him  a  match  for  the  liveliest. 
Those  who  had  looked  upon  him  as  a  man  given  up  to  graver 
and  more  ambitious  pursuits,  a  bitter  sneerer  and  passer  of 
sarcasms  at  the  expense  of  those  who,  taking  life  as  they 
find  it,  were  disposed  to  snatch  at  each  pastime  it  presents, 
now  perceived  with  astonishment  that  his  wit  could  carry  as 
smooth  an  edge  as  their  own,  his  laugh  be  as  lively,  and  his 
brow  as  unclouded.  By  what  art  of  damnable  hypocrisy  he 
could  draw  this  veil  of  gaiety  over  the  black  thoughts  of  one 
of  the  worst  of  human  bosoms  must  remain  unintelligible  to 
all  but  his  compeers,  if  any  such  ever  existed ;  but  he  was  a 
man  of  extraordinary  powers,  and  those  powers  were  unhappily 
dedicated  in  all  their  energy  to  the  very  worst  of  purposes. 


446  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

It  was  entirely  different  with  Leicester.  However  habit- 
uated his  mind  usually  was  to  play  the  part  of  a  good  cour- 
tier, and  appear  gay,  assiduous,  and  free  from  all  care  but 
that  of  enhancing  the  pleasure  of  the  moment,  while  his  bosom 
internally  throbbed  with  the  pangs  of  unsatisfied  ambition, 
jealousy,  or  resentment,  his  heart  had  now  a  yet  more  dread- 
ful guest,  whose  workings  could  not  be  overshadowed  or  sup- 
pressed; and  you  might  read  in  his  vacant  eye  and  troubled 
brow  that  his  thoughts  were  far  absent  from  the  scenes  in 
which  he  was  compelling  himself  to  play  a  part.  He  looked, 
moved,  and  spoke  as  if  by  a  succession  of  continued  efforts; 
and  it  seemed  as  if  his  will  had  in  some  degree  lost  the 
promptitude  of  command  over  the  acute  mind  and  goodly  form 
of  which  it  was  the  regent.  His  actions  and  gestures,  instead 
of  appearing  the  consequence  of  simple  volition,  seemed,  like 
those  of  an  automaton,  to  wait  the  revolution  of  some  internal 
machinery  ere  they  could  be  performed;  and  his  words  fell 
from  him  piecemeal,  interrupted,  as  if  he  had  first  to  think 
what  he  was  to  say,  then  how  it  was  to  be  said,  and  as  if, 
after  all,  it  was  only  by  an  effort  of  continued  attention  that 
he  completed  a  sentence  without  forgetting  both  the  one  and 
the  other. 

The  singular  effects  which  these  distractions  of  mind  pro- 
duced upon  the  behaviour  and  conversation  of  the  most  accom- 
plished courtier  of  England,  as  they  were  visible  to  the  lowest 
and  dullest  menial  who  approached  his  person,  could  not 
escape  the  notice  of  the  most  intelligent  princess  of  the  age. 
Nor  is  there  the  least  doubt  that  the  alternate  negligence  and 
irregularity  of  his  manner  would  have  called  down  Elizabeth's 
severe  displeasure  on  the  Earl  of  Leicester,  had  it  not  occurred 
to  her  to  account  for  it  by  supposing  that  the  apprehension  of 
that  displeasure  which  she  had  expressed  towards  him  with 
such  vivacity  that  very  morning  was  dwelling  upon  the  spirits 
of  her  favourite,  and,  spite  of  his  efforts  to  the  contrary,  dis- 
tracted the  usual  gracefvil  tenor  of  his  mien  and  the  charms  of 
his  conversation.  When  this  idea,  so  flattering  to  female 
vanity,  had  once  obtained  possession  of  her  mind,  it  proved  a 
full  and  satisfactory  apology  for  the  numerous  errors  and  mis- 


KENILWORTH.  447 

takes  of  the  Earl  of  Leicester ;  and  the  watchful  circle  around 
observed  with  astonishment  that,  instead  of  resenting  his  re- 
peated negligence  and  want  of  even  ordinary  attention,  al- 
though these  were  points  on  which  she  was  usually  extremely 
punctilious,  the  Queen  sought,  on  the  contrary,  to  afford  him 
time  and  means  to  recollect  himself,  and  deigned  to  assist  him 
in  doing  so,  with  an  indulgence  which  seemed  altogether  in- 
consistent with  her  usual  character.  It  was  clear,  however, 
that  this  could  not  last  much  longer,  and  that  Elizabeth  must 
finally  put  another  and  more  severe  construction  on  Leicester's 
uncourteous  conduct,  when  the  earl  was  summoned  by  Varney 
to  speak  with  him  in  a  different  apartment. 

After  having  had  the  message  twice  delivered  to  him,  he 
rose,  and  was  about  to  withdraw,  as  it  were,  by  instinct ;  then 
stopped,  and,  turning  round,  entreated  permission  of  the  Queen 
to  absent  himself  for  a  brief  space  upon  matters  of  pressing 
importance. 

"Go,  my  lord,"  said  the  Queen;  "we  are  aware  our  pres- 
ence must  occasion  sudden  and  unexpected  occurrences,  which 
require  to  be  provided  for  on  the  instant.  Yet,  my  lord,  as 
you  would  have  us  believe  ourself  your  welcome  and  honoured 
guest,  we  entreat  you  to  think  less  of  our  good  cheer,  and 
favour  us  with  more  of  your  good  coimtenance  than  we  have 
this  day  enjoyed;  for,  whether  prince  or  peasant  be  the  guest, 
the  welcome  of  the  host  will  always  be  the  better  part  of  the 
entertainment.  Go,  my  lord ;  and  we  trust  to  see  j^ou  return 
with  an  unwrinkled  brow  and  those  free  thoughts  which  you 
are  wont  to  have  at  the  disposal  of  your  friends. " 

Leicester  only  bowed  low  in  answer  to  this  rebuke,  and  re- 
tired. At  the  door  of  the  apartment  he  was  met  by  Yarney, 
who  eagerly  drew  him  apart,  and  whispered  in  his  ear :  "  All 
Is  well!" 

"  Has  Masters  seen  her?"  said  the  earl. 

"He  has,  my  lord;  and  as  she  would  neither  answer  his 
queries  nor  allege  any  reason  for  her  refusal,  he  will  give  full 
testimony  that  she  labours  imder  a  mental  disorder,  and  may 
be  best  committed  to  the  charge  of  her  friends.  The  oppor- 
tunity is  therefore  free  to  remove  her  as  we  proposed." 


448  WAVEKLEY  NOVELS. 

"  But  Tressilian?"  said  Leicester. 

"  He  will  not  know  of  her  departure  for  some  time, "  replied 
Yarney ;  "  it  shall  take  place  this  very  evening,  and  to-morrow 
he  shall  be  cared  for." 

"  No,  by  my  soul, "  answered  Leicester ;  "  I  will  take  ven- 
geance on  him  with  mine  own  hand!" 

"  You,  my  lord,  and  on  so  inconsiderable  a  man  as  Tres- 
silian !  No,  my  lord,  he  hath  long  wished  to  visit  foreign  parts. 
Trust  him  to  me :  I  will  take  care  he  returns  not  hither  to  tell 
tales." 

"Not  so,  by  Heaven,  Yarney!"  exclaimed  Leicester.  "In- 
considerable do  you  call  an  enemy  that  hath  had  power  to 
wound  me  so  deeply  that  my  whole  after  life  must  be  one 
scene  of  remorse  and  misery?  No;  rather  than  forego  the 
right  of  doing  myself  justice  with  my  own  hand  on  that  ac- 
cursed villian,  I  will  unfold  the  whole  tnith  at  Elizabeth's 
footstool,  and  let  her  vengeance  descend  at  once  on  them  and 
on  myself." 

Yarney  saw  with  great  alarm  that  his  lord  was  wrought  up 
to  such  a  pitch  of  agitation  that,  if  he  gave  not  way  to  him, 
he  was  perfectly  capable  of  adopting  the  desperate  resolution 
which  he  had  announced,  and  which  was  instant  ruin  to  all 
the  schemes  of  ambition  which  Yarney  had  formed  for  his 
patron  and  for  himseK.  But  the  earl's  rage  seemed  at  once 
uncontrollable  and  deeply  concentrated;  and  while  he  spoke 
his  eyes  shot  fire,  his  voice  trembled  with  excess  of  passion, 
and  the  light  foam  stood  on  his  lip. 

His  confidant  made  a  bold  and  successful  effort  to  obtain 
the  mastery  of  him  even  in  this  hour  of  emotion.  "  My  lord, " 
he  said,  leading  him  to  a  mirror,  "  behold  your  reflection  in 
that  glass,  and  think  if  these  agitated  features  belong  to  one 
who,  in  a  condition  so  extreme,  is  capable  of  forming  a  reso- 
lution for  himseK." 

"What,  then,  wouldst  thou  make  me?"  said  Leicester, 
struck  at  the  change  in  his  own  physiognomy,  though  offended 
at  the  freedom  with  which  Yarney  made  the  appeal.  "  Am  I 
to  be  thy  ward,  thy  vassal — the  property  and  subject  of  my 
servant?" 


EENILWORTH.  449 

"No,  my  lord,"  said  Varney,  firmly,  "but  be  master  of 
yourself  and  of  your  owu  passion.  My  lord,  I,  your  bora 
Bervant,  am  shamed  to  see  how  poorly  you  bear  yoiu"self  in 
the  storm  of  fury.  Go  to  Elizabeth's  feet,  confess  your  mar- 
riage, impeach  your  wdfe  and  her  paramour  of  adultery,  and 
avow  3'ourself,  amongst  all  your  peers,  the  wittol  who  married 
a  country  giii,  and  was  cozened  by  her  and  her  book-learned 
gallant.  Go,  my  lord;  but  first  take  farewell  of  Richard 
Varne}',  with  all  the  benefits  you  ever  conferred  on  him.  He 
served  the  noble,  the  lofty,  the  high-minded  Leicester,  and 
was  more  proud  of  depending  on  him.  than  he  would  be  of 
commanding  thousands.  But  the  abject  lord  who  stoops  to 
every  adverse  circumstance,  whose  judicious  resolves  are  scat- 
tered like  chaff  before  every  wind  of  passion,  him  Richard 
Varney  serves  not.  He  is  as  much  above  him  in  constancy  of 
mind  as  beneath  him  in  rank  and  fortune." 

Varney  spoke  thus  without  hypocrisy,  for,  though  the  firm- 
ness of  mind  which  he  boasted  was  hardness  and  impenetra- 
bility, yet  he  really  felt  the  ascendency  which  he  vaunted; 
while  the  interest  which  he  actually  felt  in  the  fortiuies  of 
Leicester  gave  unusual  emotion  to  his  voice  and  manner. 

Leicester  was  overpowered  by  his  assumed  superiority;  ifc 
seemed  to  the  unfortunate  earl  as  if  his  last  friend  was  about 
to  abandon  him.  He  stretched  his  hand  towards  Varney  as 
he  uttered  the  words :  "  Do  not  leave  me.  "What  wouldst  thou 
have  me  do?" 

"  Be  thyself,  my  noble  master, "  said  Varney,  touching  the 
earl's  hand  with  his  lips,  after  having  respectfully  grasped  it 
in  his  own — "  be  yourself,  superior  to  those  storms  of  passion 
which  wreck  inferior  minds.  Are  you  the  fij'st  who  has  been 
cozened  in  love?  The  first  whom  a  vain  and  licentious  woman 
has  cheated  into  an  affection  which  she  has  afterwards  scorned 
and  misused?  And  will  you  suffer  yourself  to  be  driven 
frantic,  because  you  have  not  been  wiser  than  the  wisest  men 
whom  the  world  has  seen?  Let  her  be  as  if  she  had  not  been 
— let  her  pass  from  your  memory  as  unworthy  of  ever  having 
held  a  place  there.  Let  your  strong  resolve  of  this  morning, 
which  I  have  both  courage,  zeal,  and  means  enough  to  exe* 
29 


450  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

cute,  be  like  the  fiat  of  a  superior  being,  a  passionless  act  of 
justice.     She  hath  deserved  death — let  her  die!" 

While  he  was  speaking,  the  earl  held  his  hand  fast,  com- 
pressed his  lips  hard,  and  frowned,  as  if  he  laboured  to  catch 
from  Varney  a  portion  of  the  cold,  ruthless,  and  dispassionate 
firmness  which  he  recommended.  "When  he  was  silent,  the 
earl  still  continued  to  grasp  his  hand,  until,  with  an  effort  at 
calm  decision,  he  was  able  to  articulate :  '*  Be  it  so — she  dies ! 
But  one  tear  might  be  permitted." 

"Not  one,  my  lord,"  interrupted  Varney,  who  saw  by  the 
quivering  eye  and  convulsed  cheek  of  his  patron  that  he  was 
about  to  give  way  to  a  burst  of  emotion,  "  not  a  tear — the  time 
permits  it  not.     Tressilian  must  be  thought  of " 

"That  indeed  is  a  name,"  said  the  earl,  "to  convert  tears 
into  blood.  Varney,  I  have  thought  on  this,  and  I  have  de- 
termined— neither  entreaty  nor  argument  shall  move  me— 
Tressilian  shall  be  my  own  victim." 

"  It  is  madness,  my  lord ;  but  you  are  too  mighty  for  me  to 
bar  your  way  to  your  revenge.  Yet  resolve  at  least  to  choose 
fitting  time  and  opportunity,  and  to  forbear  him  until  those 
ehall  be  found." 

"  Thou  shalt  order  me  in  what  thou  wilt, "  said  Leicester, 
**only  thwart  me  not  in  this." 

"Then,  my  lord,"  said  Varney,  "I  first  request  of  you  to 
lay  aside  the  wild,  suspected,  and  half-frenzied  demeanour 
which  hath  this  day  drawn  the  eyes  of  all  the  court  upon  you ; 
and  which,  but  for  the  Queen's  partial  indulgence,  which  she 
hath  extended  towards  you  in  a  degree  far  beyond  her  nature, 
she  had  never  given  you  the  opportunity  to  atone  for." 

"  Have  I  indeed  been  so  negligent?"  said  Leicester,  as  one 
who  awakes  from  a  dream.  "I  thought  I  had  coloured  it 
well;  but  fear  nothing,  my  mind  is  now  eased — I  am  calm. 
My  horoscope  shall  be  fulfilled ;  and  that  it  may  be  fulfilled, 
I  win  tax  to  the  highest  every  faculty  of  my  mind.  Fear  me 
not,  I  say.  I  will  to  the  Queen  instantly;  not  thine  own 
looks  and  language  shall  be  more  impenetrable  than  mine. 
Hast  thou  aught  else  to  say?" 

"I  must  crave  your  signet-ring,"  said  Varney,  gravely,  "in 


KENILWORTa  461 

token  to  tliose  of  your  servants  whom  I  must  employ  tliat  I 
possess  your  full  authority  in  commanding  their  aid." 

Leicester  drew  off  the  signet-ring  which  he  commonly  used 
and  gave  it  to  Varney  with  a  haggard  and  stern  expression  of 
countenance,  adding  only,  in  a  low,  haK-whispered  tone,  but 
with  terrific  emphasis,  the  words:  "What  thou  dost,  da 
quickly." 

Some  anxiety  and  wonder  took  place,  meanwhile,  in  the 
presence-hall  at  the  prolonged  absence  of  the  noble  lord  of  the 
castle,  and  great  was  the  delight  of  his  friends  when  they  saw 
him  enter  as  a  man  from  whose  bosom,  to  all  human  seeming, 
a  weight  of  care  had  been  just  removed.  Amply  did  Leicester 
that  day  redeem  the  pledge  he  had  given  to  Varney,  who  soon 
saw  himself  no  longer  under  the  necessity  of  maintaining  a 
character  so  different  from  his  own  as  that  which  he  had  as- 
sumed in  the  earlier  part  of  the  day,  and  gradually  relapsed 
into  the  same  grave,  shrewd,  caustic  observer  of  conversation 
and  incident  which  constituted  his  usual  part  in  society. 

With  Elizabeth,  Leicester  played  his  game  as  one  to  whom 
her  natural  strength  of  talent,  and  her  weakness  in  one  or  two 
particular  points,  were  well  known.  He  was  too  wary  to  ex- 
change on  a  sudden  the  sullen  personage  which  he  had  played 
before  he  retired  with  Varney;  but,  on  approaching  her,  it 
seemed  softened  into  a  melancholy,  which  had  a  touch  of  ten- 
derness in  it,  and  which,  in  the  course  of  conversing  with 
Elizabeth,  and  as  she  dropped  in  compassion  one  mark  of 
favour  after  another  to  console  him,  passed  into  a  flow  of 
Affectionate  gallantry  the  most  assiduous,  the  most  delicate, 
the  most  insinuating,  yet  at  the  same  time  the  most  respectful, 
with  which  a  queen  was  ever  addressed  by  a  subject.  Eliza- 
beth listened  as  in  a  sort  of  enchantment;  her  jealousy  of 
power  was  lulled  asleep ;  her  resolution  to  forsake  all  social  or 
domestic  ties,  and  dedicate  herseK  exclusively  to  the  care  of 
her  people,  began  to  be  shaken,  and  once  more  the  star  of 
Dudley  culminated  in  the  court  horizon. 

But  Leicester  did  not  enjoy  this  triumph  over  nature  and 
over  conscience  without  its  being  embittered  to  him,  not  only 
by  the  internal  rebellion  of  his  feelings  agauist  the  violence 


452  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

■vvhicli  he  exercised  over  them,  but  by  many  accidental  circum- 
stances, which,  in  the  course  of  the  banquet,  and  during  the 
subsequent  amusements  of  the  evening,  jarred  upon  that  nerve 
the  least  vibration  of  which  was  agony. 

The  courtiers  were,  for  example,  in  the  great  hall,  after 
having  left  the  banqueting-room,  awaiting  the  appearance  of 
a  splendid  masque,  which  was  the  expected  entertainment  of 
this  evening,  when  the  Queen  interrupted  a  wild  career  of  wit 
which  the  Earl  of  Leicester  was  running  against  Lord  Wil- 
loughby,  Raleigh,  and  some  other  courtiers,  by  saying :  "  We 
will  impeach  you  of  high  treason,  my  lord,  if  you  proceed  in 
this  attempt  to  slay  us  with  laughter.  And  here  comes  a 
thing  may  make  us  all  grave  at  his  pleasure,  our  learned  phy- 
sician Masters,  with  news  belike  of  our  poor  suppliant,  Lady 
Varney ;  nay,  my  lord,  we  will  not  have  you  leave  us,  for  this 
being  a  dispute  betwixt  married  persons,  we  do  not  hold  our 
own  experience  deep  enough  to  decide  thereon,  without  good 
counsel.  How  now,  Masters,  what  think' st  thou  of  the  run- 
away bride?" 

The  smile  with  which  Leicester  had  been  speaking  when 
the  Queen  interrupted  him  remained  arrested  on  his  lips,  as  if 
it  had  been  carved  there  by  the  chisel  of  Michael  Angelo  or  of 
Chan  trey ;  and  he  listened  to  the  speech  of  the  physician  with 
the  same  immovable  cast  of  countenance. 

"  The  Lady  Varney,  gracious  sovereign, "  said  the  court 
physician  Masters,  "  is  sullen,  and  would  hold  little  conference 
with  me  touching  the  state  of  her  health,  talking  wildly  of 
being  soon  to  plead  her  own  cause  before  your  own  presence, 
and  of  answering  no  meaner  person's  inquiries." 

"Now,  the  Heavens  forefend!"  said  the  Queen;  "we  have 
already  suffered  from  the  misconstructions  and  broils  which 
seem  to  follow  this  poor  brain-sick  lady  wherever  she  comes. 
Think  you  not  so,  my  lord?"  she  added,  appealing  to  Leicester, 
with  something  m  her  look  that  indicated  regret,  even  tenderly 
expressed,  for  their  disagreement  of  that  morning.  Leicester 
compelled  himself  to  bow  low.  The  utmost  force  he  could 
exert  was  inadequate  to  the  farther  effort  of  expressing  in 
words  his  acquiescence  in  the  Queen's  sentiment. 


KENIL  WORTH.  463 

"  You  are  vindictive, "  she  said,  *'  my  lord ;  but  we  will  find 
time  and  place  to  punish  you.  But  once  more  to  this  same 
trouble-mirth — this  Lady  Varney.  What  of  her  health, 
Masters?" 

"  She  is  sullen,  madam,  as  I  already  said,"  replied  Masters, 
"  and  refuses  to  answer  interrogatories  or  be  amenable  to  the 
authority  of  the  mediciner.  I  conceive  her  to  be  possessed 
with  a  delirium,  which  I  incline  to  term  rather  hypochondria 
than  phrenesis  ;  and  I  think  she  were  best  cared  for  by  her 
husband  in  his  own  ho.v.a,  and  removed  from  all  this  bustle  of 
pageants,  which  disturbs  her  weak  brain  with  the  most  fan- 
tastic phantoms.  She  drops  hints  as  if  she  were  some  great 
X^erson  in  disguise — some  countess  or  princess  perchance. 
God  help  them,  such  are  often  the  hallucinations  of  these  in- 
firm persons!" 

'"Xay,  then,"  said  the  Queen,  "away  with  her  with  all 
speed.  Let  Varney  care  for  her  with  fitting  humanity ;  but 
let  them  rid  the  castle  of  her  forthwith.  She  will  think  her- 
self lady  of  all,  I  warrant  you.  It  is  pity  so  fair  a  form, 
however,  should  havv.  an  infirm  understanding.  What  think 
you,  my  lord?" 

"  It  is  pity  indeed, "  said  the  earl,  repeating  the  words  like 
a  task  which  was  set  him. 

"  But,  perhaps, "  said  Elizabeth,  "  you  do  not  join  with  us 
in  our  opinion  of  her  beauty ;  and  indeed  we  have  known 
men  prefer  a  statelier  and  more  Juno-like  form  to  that 
drooping,  fragile  one,  that  hung  its  head  like  a  broken  lily. 
Ay,  men  are  tyrants,  my  lord,  who  esteem  the  animation  of 
the  strife  above  the  triumph  of  an  unresisting  conquest,  and, 
like  sturdy  champions,  love  best  those  women  who  can  wage 
contest  with  them.  I  could  think  with  you,  Rutland,  that, 
give  my  Lord  of  Leicester  such  a  piece  of  painted  wax  for  a 
bride,  he  would  have  wished  her  dead  ere  the  end  of  the 
honejmioon. " 

As  she  said  this,  she  looked  on  Leicester  so  expressively 
that,  while  his  heart  revolted  against  the  egregious  falsehood, 
lie  did  himself  so  much  violence  as  to  reply  in  a  whisper,  that 
Leicester's  love  was  more  lowly  than  her  Majesty  deemed,  since 


454  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

it  was  settled  wliere  he  could  never  command,  but  must  ever 
obey. 

The  Queen  blushed,  and  bid  him  be  silent ;  yet  looked  as  if 
she  expected  that  he  would  not  obey  her  commands.  But  at 
that  moment  the  flourish  of  trumpets  and  kettle-drums  from 
a  high  balcony  which  overlooked  the  hall  announced  the  en- 
trance of  the  masquers,  and  relieved  Leicester  from  the  hor- 
rible state  of  constraint  and  dissimulation  in  which  the  result 
of  his  own  duplicity  had  placed  him. 

The  masque  which  entered  consisted  of  four  separate  bands, 
which  followed  each  other  at  brief  intervals,  each  consisting 
of  six  principal  persons  and  as  many  torch-bearers,  and  each 
representing  one  of  the  various  nations  by  which  England  had 
at  different  times  been  occupied. 

The  aboriginal  Britons,  who  first  entered,  were  ushered  in 
by  two  ancient  Druids,  whose  hoary  hair  was  crowned  with  a 
chaplet  of  oak,  and  who  bore  in  their  hands  branches  of  mistle- 
toe. The  masquers  who  followed  these  venerable  figures  were 
succeeded  by  two  bards,  arrayed  in  white,  and  bearing  harps, 
which  they  occasionally  touched,  singing  at  the  same  time 
certain  stanzas  of  an  ancient  hymn  to  Belus,  or  the  Sun.  The 
aboriginal  Britons  had  been  selected  from  amongst  the  tallest 
and  most  robust  young  gentlemen  in  attendance  on  the  court. 
Their  masks  were  accommodated  with  long  shaggy  beards  and 
hair ;  their  vestments  were  of  the  hides  of  wolves  and  bears ; 
while  their  legs,  arms,  and  the  upper  parts  of  their  bodies, 
being  sheathed  in  flesh-coloured  silk,  on  which  were  traced  in 
grotesque  lines  representations  of  the  heavenly  bodies,  and  of 
animals  and  other  terrestrial  objects,  gave  them  the  lively 
appearance  of  our  painted  ancestors,  whose  freedom  was  first 
trenched  upon  by  the  Komans. 

The  sons  of  Eome,  who  came  to  civilise  as  well  as  to  con- 
quer, were  next  produced  before  the  princely  assembly ;  and 
the  manager  of  the  revels  had  correctly  imitated  the  high 
crest  and  military  habits  of  that  celebrated  people,  accommo- 
dating them  with  the  light  yet  strong  buckler,  and  the  short 
two-edged  sword,  the  use  of  which  had  made  them  victors  of 
the  world.     The  Eoman  eagles  were  borne  before  them  by  two 


ZENILWORTH.  455 

standard-bearers,  who  recited  a  hymn  to  Mars,  and  the  clas- 
sical warriors  followed  with  the  grave  and  haughty  step  of 
men  who  aspired  at  universal  conquest. 

The  third  quadrille  represented  the  Saxons,  clad  in  the 
bearskins  which  they  had  brought  with  them  from  the  German 
forests,  and  bearing  in  their  hands  the  redoubtable  battle-axes 
which  made  such  havoc  among  the  natives  of  Britain.  They 
were  preceded  by  two  scalds,  who  chanted  the  praises  of  Odin. 

Last  came  the  knightly  Normans,  in  their  mail-shirts  and 
hoods  of  steel,  with  all  the  panoply  of  chivalry,  and  mar- 
shalled by  two  minstrels,  who  sung  of  war  and  ladies'  love. 

These  four  bands  entered  the  spacious  hall  with  the  utmost 
order,  a  short  pause  being  made  that  the  spectators  might 
satisfy  their  curiosity  as  to  each  quadrille  before  the  appear- 
ance of  the  next.  They  then  marched  completely  round  the 
hall,  in  order  the  more  fully  to  display  themselves,  regulating 
their  steps  to  organs,  shalms,  hautboys,  and  virginals,  the 
music  of  the  Lord  Leicester's  household.  At  length  the  four 
quadrilles  of  masquers,  ranging  their  torch-bearers  behind 
them,  drew  up  in  their  several  ranks  on  the  two  opposite  sides 
of  the  hall,  so  that  the  Eomans  confrontmg  the  Britons,  and 
the  Saxons  the  Normans,  seemed  to  look  on  each  other  with 
eyes  of  wonder,  which  presently  appeared  to  kindle  into  anger, 
expressed  by  menacing  gestures.  At  the  burst  of  a  strain  of 
martial  music  from  the  gallery,  the  masquers  drew  their 
swords  on  all  sides,  and  advanced  against  each  other  in  the 
measured  steps  of  a  sort  of  Pyrrhic  or  military  dance,  clashing 
their  swords  agamst  their  adversaries'  shields,  and  clattering 
them  against  their  blades  as  they  passed  each  other  in  the 
progress  of  the  dance.  It  was  a  very  pleasant  spectacle  to  see 
how  the  various  bands,  preserving  regularity  amid  motions 
which  seemed  to  be  totally  irregular,  mixed  together,  and  then' 
disengaging  themselves  resumed  each  their  own  original  rank 
as  the  music  varied. 

In  this  symbolical  dance  were  represented  the  conflicts 
which  had  taken  place  among  the  various  nations  which  had 
anciently  inhabited  Britain. 

At   length,    after   many  mazy   evolutions,  which    afforded 


456  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

great  pleasure  to  the  spectators,  the  sound  of  a  loud-voiced 
trumpet  was  heard,  as  if  it  blew  for  instant  battle  or  for 
victory  won.  The  masquers  instantly  ceased  their  mimic 
strife,  and  collecting  themselves  under  their  original  leaders, 
or  presenters,  for  such  was  the  appropriate  phrase,  seemed  to 
share  the  anxious  expectation  which  the  spectators  experienced 
concerning  what  was  next  to  appear. 

The  doors  of  the  hall  were  thrown  wide,  and  no  less  a 
person  entered  than  the  fiend-born  Merlin,  dressed  in  a 
strange  and  mystical  attire,  suited  to  his  ambiguous  birth  and 
magical  power.  About  him  and  behind  him  fluttered  or  gam- 
bolled many  extraordinary  forms,  intended  to  represent  the 
spirits  who  waited  to  do  his  powerful  bidding ;  and  so  much 
did  this  part  of  the  pageant  interest  the  menials  and  others  of 
the  lower  class  then  in  the  castle,  that  many  of  them  forgot 
even  the  reverence  due  to  the  Queen's  presence  so  far  as  to 
thrust  themselves  into  the  lower  part  of  the  hall. 

The  Earl  of  Leicester,  seeing  his  officers  had  some  difficulty 
to  repel  these  intruders,  without  more  disturbance  than  was 
fitting  where  the  Queen  was  in  presence,  arose  and  went  him- 
self to  the  bottom  of  the  hall ;  Elizabeth,  at  the  same  time, 
with  her  usual  feeling  for  the  common  people,  requesting  that 
they  might  be  permitted  to  remain  undisturbed  to  witness  the 
pageant.  Leicester  went  under  this  pretext;  but  his  real 
motive  was  to  gain  a  moment  to  himseK,  and  to  relieve  his 
mind,  were  it  but  for  one  instant,  from  the  dreadful  task  of 
hiding,  under  the  guise  of  gaiety  and  gallantry,  the  lacerating 
pangs  of  shame,  anger,  remorse,  and  thirst  for  vengeance. 
He  imposed  silence  by  his  look  and  sign  upon  the  vulgar  crowd 
at  the  lower  end  of  the  apartment ;  but,  instead  of  instantly 
returning  to  wait  on  her  Majesty,  he  wrapped  his  cloak  around 
him,  and  mixing  with  the  crowd,  stood  in  some  degree  an  un- 
distinguished spectator  of  the  progress  of  the  masque. 

Merlin,  having  entered  and  advanced  into  the  midst  of  the 
hall,  summoned  the  presenters  of  the  contending  bands  around 
him  by  a  wave  of  his  magical  rod,  and  announced  to  them, 
in  a  poetical  speech,  that  the  isle  of  Britain  was  now  com- 
manded by  a  royal  maiden,  to  whom  it  was  the  will  of  fate 


KENILWOPtTH.  457 

"that  they  should  all  do  homage,  and  request  of  her  to  pro- 
nounce on  the  various  pretensions  which  each  set  forth  to  be 
esteemed  the  pre-eminent  stock  from  which  the  present  na- 
tives, the  happy  subjects  of  that  angelical  princess,  derived 
their  lineage. 

In  obedience  to  this  mandate,  the  bands,  each  moving  to 
solemn  music,  passed  in  succession  before  Elizabeth;  doing 
her,  as  they  passed,  each  after  the  fashion  of  the  people  whom 
they  represented,  the  lowest  and  most  devotional  homage, 
which  she  returned  with  the  same  gracious  courtesy  that  had 
marked  her  whole  conduct  since  she  came  to  Kenilworth. 

The  presenters  of  the  several  masques,  or  quadrilles,  then 
alleged,  each  in  behalf  of  his  own  troop,  the  reasons  which 
they  had  for  claiming  pre-eminence  over  the  rest ;  and  when 
they  had  been  all  heard  in  turn,  she  returned  them  this 
gracious  answer :  "  That  she  was  sorry  she  was  not  better 
qualified  to  decide  upon  the  doubtful  question  which  had  been 
propounded  to  her  by  the  direction  of  the  famous  Merlin,  but 
that  it  seemed  to  her  that  no  single  one  of  these  celebrated 
nations  could  claim  pre-eminence  over  the  others  as  having 
most  contributed  to  form  the  Englishman  of  her  own  time, 
who  unquestionably  derived  from  each  of  them  some  worthy 
attribute  of  his  character.  Thus, "  she  said,  "  the  Englishman 
had  from  the  ancient  Briton  his  bold  and  tameless  spirit  of 
freedom ;  from  the  Roman  his  disciplined  courage  in  war,  with 
his  love  of  letters  and  civilisation  in  time  of  peace ; .  from  the 
Saxon  his  wise  and  equitable  laws ;  and  from  the  chivalrous 
Norman  his  love  of  honour  and  courtesy,  with  his  generous 
desire  for  glory." 

Merlin  answered  with  readiness,  that  it  did  indeed  require 
that  so  many  choice  qualities  should  meet  in  the  English  as 
might  render  them  in  some  measure  the  muster  of  the  perfec- 
tions of  other  nations,  since  that  alone  could  render  them  in 
some  degree  deserving  of  the  blessings  they  enjoyed  under  the 
reign  of  England's  Elizabeth. 

The  music  then  sounded,  and  the  quadrilles,  together  Avith 
Merlin  and  liis  assistants,  had  begun  to  remove  fi'om  the 
crowded  hall,  when  Leicester,  who  was,  as  we  have  mentioned, 


458  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

stationed  for  tlie  moment  near  the  bottom  of  the  hall,  and 
consequently  engaged  in  some  degree  in  the  crowd,  felt  him* 
self  pulled  by  the  cloak,  while  a  voice  whispered  in  his  ear, 
"My  lord,  I  do  desire  some  instant  conference  with  you," 


CHAPTER  XXXVIII. 

How  is't  with  me,  when  every  noise  appals  me ! 

Macbeth. 

"I  DESIRE  some  conference  with  you."  The  words  were 
simple  in  themselves,  but  Lord  Leicester  was  in  that  alarmed 
and  feverish  state  of  mind  when  the  most  ordinary  occur- 
rences seem  fraught  with  alarming  import;  and  he  turned 
hastily  round  to  survey  the  person  by  whom  they  had  been 
spoken.  There  was  nothing  remarkable  in  the  speaker's  ap» 
pearance,  which  consisted  of  a  black  silk  doublet  and  short 
mantle,  with  z.  black  vizard  on  his  face ;  for  it  appeared  he 
had  been  among  the  crowd  of  masks  who  had  thronged  into 
the  hall  in  the  retinue  of  Merlin,  though  he  did  not  wear  any 
of  the  extravagant  disguises  by  which  most  of  them  were  dis- 
tinguished. 

"  Who  are  you,  or  what  do  you  want  with  me?"  said  Leices- 
ter, not  without  betraying,  by  his  accents,  the  hurried  state  of 
his  spirits. 

"  Ko  evil,  my  lord, "  answered  the  mask,  "  but  much  good 
and  honour,  if  you  will  rightly  understand  my  purpose.  But 
I  must  speak  with  you  more  privately." 

"  I  can  speak  with  no  nameless  stranger, "  answered  Leices- 
ter, dreading  he  knew  not  precisely  what  from  the  request 
of  the  stranger ;  "  and  those  who  are  known  to  me  must  seek 
another  and  a  fitter  time  to  ask  an  interview. " 

He  would  have  hurried  away,  but  the  mask  still  detained 
him. 

"  Those  who  talk  to  your  lordship  of  what  your  own  honour 
demands  have  a  right  over  your  time,  whatever  occupations 
you  may  lay  aside  in  order  to  indulge  them.^' 


KENILWORTH.  459 

"How!  myhouour!  Who  dare  impeach  it?"  said  Leices- 
ter. 

"  Your  own  conduct  alone  can  furnish  grounds  for  accusing 
it,  my  lord,  and  it  is  that  topic  on  which  I  would  speak  with 
you." 

"You  are  insolent,"  said  Leicester,  "and  abuse  the  hospi- 
table license  of  the  time,  which  prevents  me  from  having  you 
punished.     I  demand  your  name'?" 

"Edmund  Tressilian  of  Cornwall,"  answered  the  mask. 
"  My  tongue  has  been  bound  by  a  promise  for  four-and-twenty 
hours ;  the  space  is  passed — I  now  speak,  and  do  your  lord- 
ship the  justice  to  address  myself  first  to  you." 

The  thrill  of  astonishment  which  had  penetrated  to  Leices* 
ter's  very  heart  at  hearing  that  name  pronounced  by  the  voice 
of  the  man  he  most  detested,  and  by  whom  he  conceived 
himself  so  deeply  injured,  at  first  rendered  him  immovable 
but  instantly  gave  way  to  such  a  thirst  for  revenge  as  the 
pilgrim  in  the  desert  feels  for  the  water-brooks.  He  had  but 
sense  and  self-government  enough  left  to  prevent  his  stabbing 
to  the  heart  the  audacious  villain  who,  after  the  ruin  he  had 
brought  upon  him,  dared,  with  such  unmoved  assurance,  thus 
to  practise  upon  him  farther.  Determined  to  suppress  for  the 
moment  every  symptom  of  agitation  in  order  to  perceive  the 
full  scope  of  Tressilian 's  purpose,  as  well  as  to  secure  his  own 
vengeance,  he  answered  in  a  tone  so  altered  by  restrained  pas- 
sion as  scarce  to  be  intelligible :  "  And  what  does  Master  Ed- 
mund Tressilian  require  at  my  hand?" 

"  Justice,  my  lord, "  answered  Tressilian,  calmly  but  firmly. 

"  Justice, "  said  Leicester,  "  all  men  are  entitled  to.  You, 
Master  Tressilian,  are  peculiarly  so,  and  be  assured  you  shall 
have  it." 

"I  expect  nothing  less  from  your  nobleness,"  answered 
Tressilian ;  "  but  time  presses,  and  I  must  speak  with  you  to- 
night.    May  I  wait  on  you  in  your  chamber?" 

"  Ko, "  answered  Leicester,  sternly,  "  not  under  a  roof,  and 
that  roof  mine  own.  We  will  meet  under  the  free  cope  of 
heaven. " 

"You   are   discomposed  or   displeased,   my  lord,"  replied 


460  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

Tressilian;  "yet  there  is  no  occasion  for  distemperature.  The 
place  is  equal  to  me,  so  you  allow  me  one  liaK-hour  of  your 
time  uninterrupted." 

"  A  shorter  time  will,  I  trust,  suffice, "  answered  Leicester. 
"  Meet  me  in  the  Pleasance,  when  the  Queen  has  retired  to 
her  chamber." 

"Enough,"  said  Tressilian,  and  withdrew;  while  a  sort  of 
rapture  seemed  for  the  moment  to  occupy  the  mind  of  Leicester. 

"  Heaven, "  he  said,  "  is  at  last  favourable  to  me,  and  has 
put  within  my  reach  the  wretch  who  has  branded  me  with 
this  deep  ignominy — who  has  inflicted  on  me  this  cruel  agony. 
I  will  blame  fate  no  more,  since  I  am  afforded  the  means  of 
tracmg  the  wiles  by  which  he  means  still  farther  to  practise 
on  me,  and  then  of  at  once  convicting  and  punishing  his  vil- 
lainy. To  my  task — to  my  task!  I  will  not  sink  under  it 
now,  since  midnight,  at  farthest,  will  bring  me  vengeance." 

While  these  reflections  thronged  through  Leicester's  mind, 
he  again  made  his  way  amid  the  obsequious  crowd,  which  di- 
vided to  give  him  passage,  and  resumed  his  place,  envied  and 
admired,  beside  the  person  of  his  sovereign.  But,  could  the 
bosom  of  him  thus  admired  and  envied  have  been  laid  open 
before  the  inhabitants  of  that  crowded  hall,  with  all  its  dark 
thoughts  of  guilty  ambition,  blighted  affection,  deep  ven- 
geance, and  conscious  sense  of  meditated  cruelty  crossing  each 
other  like  spectres  in  the  circle  of  some  foul  enchantress, 
which  of  them,  from  the  most  ambitious  noble  in  the  courtly 
circle  down  to  the  most  wretched  menial  who  lived  by  shifting 
of  trenchers,  would  have  desired  to  change  characters  with  the 
favourite  of  Elizabeth  and  the  Lord  of  Kenilworth ! 

New  tortures  awaited  him  as  soon  as  he  had  rejoined  Eliza- 
beth. 

"You  come  in  time,  my  lord,"  she  said,  "to  decide  a  dis- 
pute between  us  ladies.  Here  has  Sir  Eichard  Yarney  asked 
our  permission  to  depart  from  the  castle  with  his  infirm  lady, 
having,  as  he  tells  us,  your  lordship's  consent  to  his  absence, 
so  he  can  obtain  ours.  Certes,  we  have  no  will  to  withhold 
him  from  the  affectionate  charge  of  this  poor  yomig  person ; 
but  you  are  to  know,  that  Sir  Eichard  Yarney  hath  this  day 


KENILWORTH.  461 

shown  himself  so  much,  captivated  with  these  ladies  of  ours 
that  here  is  our  Duchess  of  Rutland  says,  he  will  carry  his 
poor  insane  wife  no  farther  than  the  lake,  plunge  her  in,  to 
tenant  the  crystal  palaces  that  the  enchanted  nymph  told  us 
of,  and  return  a  jolly  widower,  to  dry  his  tears  and  to  make 
up  the  loss  among  our  train.  How  say  you,  my  lord?  We 
have  seen  Varney  under  two  or  three  different  guises;  you 
know  what  are  his  proper  attributes— think  you  he  is  capable 
of  playing  his  lady  such  a  knave's  trick?" 

Leicester  was  confoimded,  but  the  danger  was  urgent,  and 
a  reply  absolutely  necessary.  "  The  ladies, "  he  said,  "  think 
too  lightly  of  one  of  their  own  sex  in  supposing  she  could  de- 
serve such  a  fate,  or  too  ill  of  oui-s,  to  think  it  could  be  in- 
flicted upon  an  innocent  female." 

"  Hear  him,  my  ladies, "  said  Elizabeth ;  "  like  all  his  sex, 
he  would  excuse  their  cruelty  by  imputing  fickleness  to  us." 

"  Say  not  us,  madam, "  replied  the  earl ;  "  we  say  that 
meaner  women,  like  the  lesser  lights  of  heaven,  have  revolu- 
tions and  phases,  but  who  shall  impute  mutability  to  the  sun 
or  to  Elizabeth?" 

The  discourse  presently  afterwards  assumed  a  less  perilous 
tendency,  and  Leicester  continued  to  support  his  part  in  it 
with  spirit,  at  whatever  expense  of  mental  agony.  So  pleas- 
,ijig  did  it  seem  to  Elizabeth,  that  the  castle  bell  had  sounded 
midnight  ere  she  retired  from  the  company,  a  circumstance 
unusual  in  her  quiet  and  regular  habits  of  disposing  of  time. 
Her  departure  was,  of  course,  the  signal  for  breaking  up  the 
company,  who  dispersed  to  their  several  places  of  repose,  to 
dream  over  the  pastimes  of  the  day  or  to  anticipate  those  of 
the  morrow. 

The  unfortunate  lord  of  the  castle,  and  founder  of  the  proud 
festival,  retired  to  far  different  thoughts.  His  direction  to 
the  valet  who  attended  him  was  to  send  Varney  instantly  to 
his  apartment.  The  messenger  returned  after  some  delay, 
and  informed  him  that  an  hour  had  elapsed  since  Sir  Rich- 
ard Varney  had  left  the  castle  by  the  postern  gate,  with 
three  other  persons,  one  of  whom  was  transported  in  a  horse- 
litter. 


462  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

"  How  came  he  to  leave  the  castle  after  the  watch  was  set?" 
said  Leicester.     "  I  thought  he  went  not  till  daybreak. " 

"He  gave  satisfactory  reasons,  as  I  understand,"  said  the 
domestic,  "to  the  guard,  and,  as  I  hear,  showed  your  lord- 
ship's signet " 

"True — true,"  said  the  earl;  "yet  he  has  been  hasty.  Do 
any  of  his  attendants  remain  behind?" 

"Michael  Lambourne,  my  lord,"  said  the  valet,  "was  not 
to  be  found  when  Sir  Richard  Varney  departed,  and  his  master 
was  much  incensed  at  his  absence.  I  saw  him  but  now  sad- 
dling his  horse  to  gallop  after  his  master." 

"Bid  him  come  hither  instantly,"  said  Leicester;  "I  have 
a  message  to  his  master. " 

The  servant  left  the  apartment,  and  Leicester  traversed  it 
for  some  time  in  deep  meditation.  "Varney  is  over  zealous," 
he  said — "  over  pressing.  He  loves  me,  I  think ;  but  he  hath 
his  own  ends  to  serve,  and  he  is  inexorable  in  pursuit  of 
them.  If  I  rise  he  rises,  and  he  hath  shown  himself  already 
but  too  eager  to  rid  me  of  this  obstacle  which  seems  to  stand 
betwixt  me  and  sovereignty.  Yet  I  will  not  stoop  to  bear 
this  disgrace.  She  shall  be  pimished,  but  it  shall  be  more 
advisedly.  I  already  feel,  even  in  anticipation,  that  over- 
haste  would  light  the  flames  of  hell  in  my  bosom.  No;  one 
victim  is  enough  at  once,  and  that  victim  already  waits  me." 

He  seized  upon  writing  materials,  and  hastily  traced  these 
words : 

"  Sir  Richard  Varney,  we  have  resolved  to  defer  the  mat- 
ter entrusted  to  your  care,  and  strictly  command  you  to  pro- 
ceed no  farther  in  relation  to  our  countess  until  our  further 
order.  We  also  command  your  instant  return  to  Kenilworth, 
as  soon  as  you  have  safely  bestowed  that  with  which  you  are 
entrusted.  But  if  the  safe-placing  of  your  present  charge 
shall  detain  you  longer  than  we  think  for,  we  command  you, 
in  that  case,  to  send  back  our  signet-ring  by  a  trusty  and 
speedy  messenger,  we  having  present  need  of  the  same.  And 
requiring  your  strict  obedience  in  these  things,  and  commend- 
ing you  to  God's  keeping,  we  rest  your  assured  good  friend 
and  master,  R,  Leicester. 


KENILWORTH.  463 

"  Given  at  our  Castle  of  Kenilworth,  the  tenth  of  July,  in 
the  year  of  salvation  one  thousand  five  hundred  and  seventy- 
five." 

As  Leicester  had  finished  and  sealed  this  mandate,  Michael 
Lambourne,  booted  up  to  mid-thigh,  having  his  riding-cloak 
girthed  around  him  with  a  broad  belt,  and  a  felt  cap  on  his 
head,  like  that  of  a  courier,  entered  his  apartment,  ushered  in 
by  the  valet, 

"  What  is  thy  capacity  of  service?"  said  the  earl. 

"Equerry  to  your  lordship's  master  of  the  horse,"  answered 
Lambourne,  with  his  customary  assurance. 

"Tie  up  thy  saucy  tongue,  sir,"  said  Leicester;  "the  jests 
that  may  suit  Sir  Richard  Varney's  presence  suit  not  mine. 
How  soon  wilt  thou  overtake  thy  master?" 

"In  one  hour's  riding,  my  lord,  if  man  and  horse  hold 
good,"  said  Lambourne,  with  an  mstant  alteration  of  de- 
meanour from  an  approach  to  familiarity  to  the  deepest  re- 
spect.    The  earl  measured  him  with  his  eye  from  top  to  toe. 

"I  have  heard  of  thee,"  he  said:  "men  say  thou  art  a 
prompt  fellow  in  thy  service,  but  too  much  given  to  brawling 
and  to  wassail  to  be  trusted  with  things  of  moment. " 

"  My  lord, "  said  Lambourne,  "  I  have  been  soldier,  sailor, 
traveller,  and  adventurer;  and  these  are  all  trades  in  which 
men  enjoy  to-day  because  they  have  no  surety  of  to-morrow. 
But  though  I  may  misuse  mine  own  leisure,  I  have  never 
neglected  the  duty  I  owe  my  master. " 

"  See  that  it  be  so  in  this  instance, "  said  Leicester,  "  and  it 
shall  do  thee  good.  Deliver  this  letter  speedily  and  carefully 
into  Sir  Richard  Varney's  hands." 

"  Does  my  commission  reach  no  farther?"  said  Lambourne. 

"  No, "  answered  Leicester ;  "  but  it  deeply  concerns  me  that 
it  be  carefully  as  well  as  hastily  executed." 

"  I  will  spare  neither  care  nor  horse-flesh, "  answered  Lam« 
bourne,  and  immediately  took  his  leave. 

"  So  this  is  the  end  of  my  private  audience,  from  which  I 
hoped  so  much!"  he  muttered  to  himself,  as  he  went  through 
the  long  gallery  and  down  the  back  staircase.     "Cog's  bones! 


464  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

I  thouglit  the  earl  had.  wanted  a  cast  of  mine  office  in  some 
secret  intrigue,  and  it  all  ends  in  carrying  a  letter !  Well,  his 
pleasure  shall  be  done,  however,  and,  as  his  lordship  well 
says,  it  may  do  me  good  another  time.  The  child  must  creep 
ere  he  walk,  and  so  must  your  infant  courtier.  I  will  have  a 
look  into  this  letter,  however,  which  he  hath  sealed  so  sloven- 
like." Having  accomplished  this,  he  clapped  his  hands  to- 
gether in  ecstasy,  exclaiming,  "The  coimtess — -the  countess! 
I  have  the  secret  that  shall  make  or  mar  me.  But  come 
forth.  Bayard,"  he  added,  leading  his  horse  into  the  court- 
yard, "  for  your  flanks  and  my  spurs  must  be  presently  ac- 
quainted." 

Lambourne  mounted  accordingly,  and  left  the  castle  by  the 
postern  gate,  where  his  free  passage  was  permitted,  in  conse- 
quence of  a  message  to  that  effect  left  by  Sir  Eichard  Varney. 

As  soon  as  Lambourne  and  the  valet  had  left  the  apartment, 
Leicester  proceeded  to  change  his  dress  for  a  very  plain  one, 
threw  his  mantle  around  him,  and,  taking  a  lamp  in  his  hand, 
went  by  the  private  passage  of  communication  to  a  small 
secret  postern  door  which  opened  into  the  courtyard,  near  to 
the  entrance  of  the  Pleasance.  His  reflections  were  of  a  more 
calm  and  determined  character  than  they  had  been  at  any 
late  period,  and  he  endeavoured  to  claim,  even  in  his  own 
eyes,  the  character  of  a  man  more  sinned  against  than  sinning. 

"  I  have  suffered  the  deepest  injury,"  such  was  the  tenor  of 
his  meditations,  "yet  I  have  restricted  the  instant  revenge 
which  was  in  my  power,  and  have  limited  it  to  that  which  is 
manly  and  noble.  But  shall  the  union  which  this  false 
woman  has  this  day  disgraced  remain  an  abiding  fetter  on 
me,  to  check  me  in  the  noble  career  to  which  my  destinies  in- 
vite me?  No — there  are  other  means  of  disengaging  such 
ties,  without  unloosing  the  cords  of  life.  In  the  sight  of 
Ood,  I  am  no  longer  bound  by  the  union  she  has  broken. 
Kingdoms  shall  divide  us — oceans  roll  betwixt  us,  and  their 
waves,  whose  abysses  have  swallowed  whole  navies,  shall  be 
the  sole  depositaries  of  the  deadly  mystery. " 

By  sitch  a  train  of  argument  did  Leicester  labour  to  recon- 
cile his  conscience  to  the  prosecution  of  plans  of  vengeance  so 


The  Earl  striK-k   Tressiliaii   smaitly    with    liis  sli.'athcil  suord.   and   instantly 
drawing  his  rapier,  put  himself  into  a  posture  of  assault. 


KENILWORTH.  465 

hastily  adopted,  and  of  schemes  of  ambition  which  had  become 
so  woven  in  with  every  purpose  and  action  of  his  life  that  he 
was  incapable  of  the  effort  of  relinquishing  them ;  until  his 
revenge  appeared  to  him  to  wear  a  face  of  justice,  and  even  of 
generous  moderation. 

In  this  mood,  the  vindictive  and  ambitious  earl  entered  the 
superb  precincts  of  the  Pleasance,  then  illuminated  by^^the  full 
moon.  The  broad  yellow  light  was  reflected  on  all  sides  from 
the  white  freestone  of  which  the  pavement,  balustrades,  and 
architectural  ornaments  of  the  place  were  constructed,  and  not 
a  single  fleecy  cloud  was  visible  in  the  azure  sky,  so  that  the 
scene  was  nearly  as  light  as  if  the  sun  had  but  just  left  the 
horizon.  The  numerous  statues  of  white  marble  glimmered 
in  the  pale  light,  like  so  many  sheeted  ghosts  just  arisen  from 
their  sepulchres,  and  the  fountains  threw  their  jets  into  the 
air,  as  if  they  sought  that  their  waters  should  be  brightened 
by  the  moonbeams,  ere  they  fell  down  again  upon  their  basins 
in  showers  of  sparkling  silver.  The  day  had  been  sultry,  and 
the  gentle  night  breeze,  which  sighed  along  the  terrace  of  the 
Pleasance,  raised  not  a  deeper  breath  than  the  fan  in  the  hand 
of  youthful  beauty.  The  bird  of  summer  night  had  built 
many  a  nest  in  the  bowers  of  the  adjacent  garden,  and  the 
tenants  now  indemnified  themselves  for  silence  during  the  day 
by  a  full  chorus  of  their  own  unrivalled  warblings,  now  joyous, 
now,  pathetic,  now  united,  now  responsive  to  each  other,  as  if 
to  express  their  delight  in  the  placid  and  delicious  scene  to 
which  they  poured  their  melody. 

INIusing  on  matters  far  different  from  the  fall  of  waters,  the 
gleam  of  moonlight,  or  the  song  of  the  nightingale,  the  stately 
Leicester  walked  slowly  from  the  one  end  of  the  terrace  to  the 
other,  his  cloak  wrapped  around  him,  and  his  sword  under  his 
arm,  without  seeing  anything  resembling  the  hiiman  form. 

"  I  have  been  fooled  by  my  own  generosity, "  he  said,  ''  if  I 
have  suffered  the  villain  to  escape  me — ay,  and  perhaps  to  go 
to  the  rescue  of  the  adulteress,  who  is  so  poorly  guarded." 

These  were  his  thoughts,  which  were  instantly  dispelled 
when,  turning  to  look  back  towards  the  entrance,  he  saw  a 
human  form  advancing  slowly  from  the  portico,  and  darkening 
SO 


4=66  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

the  various  objects  with  its  shadow,  as  passing  them  succes- 
sively, in  its  approach  towards  him. 

"  Shall  I  strike  ere  I  again  hear  his  detested  voice?"  was 
Leicester's  thought,  as  he  grasped  the  hilt  of  the  sword. 
"  But  no !  I  will  see  which  way  his  vile  practice  tends.  I 
will  watch,  disgustmg  as  it  is,  the  coils  and  mazes  of  the 
loathsome  snake,  ere  I  put  forth  my  strength  and  crush  him." 

His  hand  quitted  the  sword-hilt,  and  he  advanced  slowly 
towards  Tressilian,  collecting,  for  their  meeting,  all  the  self- 
possession  he  could  command,  until  they  came  front  to  front 
with  each  other. 

Tressilian  made  a  profound  reverence,  to  which  the  earl  re- 
plied with  a  haughty  inclination  of  the  head,  and  the  words, 
"  You  sought  secret  conference  with  me,  sii- ;  I  am  here,  and 
attentive." 

"  My  lord, "  said  Tressilian,  "  I  am  so  earnest  in  that  which 
I  have  to  say,  and  so  desirous  to  find  a  patient,  nay,  a  favour- 
able, hearing,  that  I  will  stoop  to  exculpate  myself  from  what- 
ever might  prejudice  your  lordship  against  me.  You  think 
me  your  enemy?" 

"Have  I  not  some  apparent  cause?"  answered  Leicester, 
perceiving  that  Tressilian  paused  for  a  reply. 

"  You  do  me  wrong,  m}^  lord.  I  am  a  friend,  but  neither  a 
dependent  nor  partizan,  of  the  Earl  of  Sussex,  whom  courtiers 
call  your  rival ;  and  it  is  some  considerable  time  since  I  ceased 
to  regard  either  courts  or  court  intrigues  as  suited  to  my 
temper  or  genius." 

"No  doubt,  sir,"  answered  Leicester,  "there  are  other  occu- 
pations more  worthy  a  scholar,  and  for  such  the  world  holds 
Master  Tressilian:  love  has  his  intrigues  as  well  as  ambition." 

"  I  perceive,  my  lord, "  replied  Tressilian,  "  you  give  much 
weight  to  my  early  attachment  for  the  vmfortunate  young  per- 
son of  whom  I  am  about  to  speak,  and  perhaps  think  I  am 
prosecuting  her  cause  out  of  rivalry  more  than  a  sense  of 
justice." 

"  No  matter  for  my  thoughts,  sir, "  said  the  earl ;  "  proceed. 
You  have  as  yet  spoken  of  yourself  only — an  important  and 
worthy  subject  doubtless,  but  which,  perhaps,  does  not  alto- 


EENILWORTH.  467 

getlier  so  deeply  concern  me  that  I  stiould  postpone  my  repose 
to  hear  it.  Spare  me  farther  prelude,  sir,  and  speak  to  the 
purpose,  if  indeed  you  have  aught  to  say  that  concerns  me. 
When  you  have  done,  I,  in  my  turn,  have  something  to  com- 
municate. " 

"I  will  speak,  then,  without  farther  prelude,  my  lord," 
answered  Tressilian;  "having  to  say  that  which,  as  it  con- 
cerns your  lordship's  honour,  I  am  confident  you  will  not 
think  your  time  wasted  in  listening  to.  I  have  to  request  an 
account  from  your  lordship  of  the  unhappy  Amy  Robsart, 
whose  history  is  too  well  kno^vn  to  you.  I  regret  deeply  that 
I  did  not  at  once  take  this  course,  and  make  yourself  judge 
between  me  and  the  villain  by  whom  she  is  injured.  My  lord, 
she  extricated  herself  from  an  unlawful  and  most  perilous  state 
of  confinement,  trusting  to  the  effects  of  her  own  remonstrance 
upon  her  unworthy  husband,  and  extorted  from  me  a  promise 
that  I  would  not  interfere  in  her  behalf  imtil  she  had  used  her 
own  efforts  to  have  her  rights  acknowledged  by  him." 

"  Ha !"  said  Leicester,  "  remember  you  to  whom  you  speak?" 

"I  speak  of  her  unworthy  husband,  my  lord,"  repeated 
Tressilian,  "and  my  respect  can  find  no  softer  language. 
The  unhappy  young  woman  is  withdrawn  from  my  knowledge, 
and  sequestered  in  some  secret  place  of  this  castle — if  she  be 
not  transferred  to  some  place  of  exclusion  better  fitted  for  bad 
designs.  This  must  be  reformed,  my  lord — I  speak  it  as 
authorised  by  her  father — and  this  ill-fated  marriage  must  be 
avouched  and  proved  in  the  Queen's  presence,  and  the  lady 
placed  without  restraint  and  at  her  own  free  disposal.  And, 
permit  me  to  say,  it  concerns  no  one's  honour  that  these  most 
just  demands  of  mine  should  be  complied  with  so  much  as  it 
does  that  of  your  lordship." 

The  earl  stood  as  if  he  had  been  petrified,  at  the  extreme 
coolness  with  which  the  man,  whom  he  considered  as  having 
injured  him  so  deeply,  pleaded  the  cause  of  his  criminal  para- 
mour, as  if  she  had  been  an  innocent  woman,  and  he  a  disin- 
terested advocate ;  nor  was  his  wonder  lessened  by  the  warmth 
with  which  Tressilian  seemed  to  demand  for  her  the  rank  and 
situation  which  she  had  disgraced,   and  the  advantages  of 


468  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

wliich  she  was  doubtless  to  share  with  the  lover  who  advocated 
her  cause  with  such  eJEfrontery.  Tressiliau  had  beeu  silent 
for  more  than  a  minute  ere  the  earl  recovered  from  the  excess 
of  his  astonishment ;  and,  considering  the  prepossessions  with 
which  his  mind  was  occupied,  there  is  little  wonder  that  his 
passion  gained  the  mastery  of  every  other  consideration.  "  I 
have  heard  you,  Master  Tressilian, "  said  he,  "  without  inter- 
ruption, and  I  bless  God  that  my  ears  were  never  before  made 
to  tingle  by  the  words  of  so  frontless  a  villain.  The  task  of 
chastising  you  is  fitter  for  the  hangman's  scourge  than  the 

sword  of  a  nobleman,  but  yet Villain,  draw  and  defend 

thyself!" 

As  he  spoke  the  last  words,  he  dropped  his  mantle  on  the 
ground,  struck  Tressilian  smartly  with  his  sheathed  sword, 
and  instantly  drawing  his  rapier,  put  himseK  into  a  posture  of 
assault.  The  vehement  fury  of  his  language  at  first  filled 
Tressilian,  in  his  turn,  with  surprise  equal  to  what  Leicester 
had  felt  when  he  addressed  him.  But  astonishment  gave  rise 
to  resentment,  when  the  unmerited  insults  of  his  language 
were  followed  by  a  blow,  which  immediately  put  to  flight 
every  thought  save  that  of  instant  combat.  Tressilian's  sword 
was  instantly  drawn,  and  though  perhaps  somewhat  inferior 
to  Leicester  in  the  use  of  the  weapon,  he  understood  it  well 
enough  to  maintain  the  contest  with  great  spirit,  the  rather 
that  of  the  two  he  was  for  the  time  the  more  cool,  since  he 
could  not  help  imputing  Leicester's  conduct  either  to  actual 
frenzy  or  to  the  influence  of  some  strong  delusion. 

The  rencontre  had  continued  for  several  minutes,  without 
either  party  receiving  a  wound,  when  of  a  sudden  voices  were 
heard  beneath  the  portico,  which  formed  the  entrance  of  the 
terrace,  mingled  with  the  steps  of  men  advancing  hastily. 
"We  are  interrupted,"  said  Leicester  to  his  antagonist;  "fol- 
low me." 

At  the  same  time  a  voice  from  the  portico  said,  "The 
jackanape  is  right:  they  are  tilting  here." 

Leicester,  meanwhile,  drew  off  Tressilian  into  a  sort  of 
recess  behind  one  of  the  fountams,  which  served  to  conceal 
them,  while  six  of  the  yeomen  of  the  Queen's  guard  passed 


KENILTYORTH.  469 

along  the  middle  walk  of  the  Pleasance,  and  they  could  hear 
one  say  to  the  rest,  "  We  shall  never  find  them  to-night 
amongst  all  these  squirting  funnels,  squirrel-cages,  and  rabbit- 
holes  ;  but  if  we  light  not  on  them  before  we  reach  the  farther 
end,  we  will  return,  and  mount  a  guard  at  the  entrance,  and 
so  secure  them  till  morning. " 

"A  proper  matter,"  said  another,  ''the  drawing  of  swords 
so  near  the  Queen's  presence,  ay,  and  in  her  very  palace  as 
'twere!  Hang  it,  they  must  be  some  poor  drunken  game- 
cocks fallen  to  sparring;  "  'twere  pity  almost  we  should  find 
them — the  penalty  is  chopping  off  a  hand,  is  it  not?  'Twere 
hard  to  lose  hand  for  handling  a  bit  of  steel,  that  comes  so 
natural  to  one's  gripe." 

"  Thou  art  a  brawler  thyself,  George, "  said  another ;  "  but 
take  heed,  for  the  law  stands  as  thou  sayest." 

"Ay,"  said  the  first,  "an  the  act  be  not  mildly  construed; 
for  thou  know'st  'tis  not  the  Queen's  palace,  but  my  Lord  of 
Leicester's." 

"  Why,  for  that  matter,  the  penalty  may  be  as  severe, "  said 
another;  "for  an  our  gracious  mistress  be  queen,  as  she  is, 
God  save  her,  my  Lord  of  Leicester  is  as  good  as  king. " 

"Hush!  thou  knave!"  said  a  third;  "how  know'st  thou 
who  may  be  within  hearing?" 

They  passed  on,  making  a  kind  of  careless  search,  but 
seemingly  more  intent  on  their  own  conversation  than  bent  on 
discovering  the  persons  who  had  created  the  nocturnal  disturb- 
ance. 

They  had  no  sooner  passed  forward  along  the  terrace  than 
Leicester,  making  a  sign  to  Tressilian  to  follow  him,  glided 
away  in  an  opposite  direction,  and  escaped  through  the  portico 
undiscovered.  He  conducted  Tressilian  to  Merv}^Ti's  Tower, 
in  which  he  was  now  again  lodged ;  and  then,  ere  parting  with 
him,  said  these  words,  "  If  thou  hast  courage  to  continue  and 
bring  to  an  end  what  is  thus  broken  off,  be  near  me  when  the 
court  goes  forth  to-morrow ;  we  shall  find  a  time,  and  I  will 
give  you  a  signal  when  it  is  fitting." 

"My  lord,"  said  Tressilian,  "at  another  time  I  might  have 
inquired  the  meaning  of  this  strange  and  fuiious  inveteracy 


470  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

against  me.  But  you  have  laid  that  on  my  shoulder  which 
only  blood  can  wash  away;  and  were  you  as  high  as  your 
proudest  wishes  ever  carried  you,  I  would  have  from  you  satis- 
faction for  my  wounded  honour." 

On  these  terms  they  parted,  but  the  adventures  of  the  night 
were  not  yet  ended  with  Leicester.  He  was  compelled  to  pass 
by  Saintlowe's  Tower  in  order  to  gain  the  private  passage 
which  led  to  his  own  chamber,  and  in  the  entrance  thereof  he 
met  Lord  Hunsdon  half -clothed  and  with  a  naked  sword  under 
iis  arm. 

"Are  you  awakened,  too,  with  this  'larum,  my  Lord  of 
Leicester?"  said  the  old  soldier.  "  'Tis  well.  By  gog's  nails, 
the  nights  are  as  noisy  as  the  day  in  this  castle  of  yours. 
Some  two  hours  since,  I  was  waked  by  the  screams  of  that 
poor  brainsick  Lady  Varney,  whom  her  husband  was  forcing 
away.  I  promise  you,  it  required  both  your  warrant  and  the 
Queen's  to  keep  me  from  entering  into  the  game,  and  cutting 
that  Varney  of  yours  over  the  head ;  and  now  there  is  a  brawl 
down  in  the  Pleasance,  or  what  call  you  the  stone  terrace-walk 
where  all  yonder  gimcracks  stand?" 

The  first  part  of  the  old  man's  speech  went  through  the 
earl's  heart  like  a  knife;  to  the  last  he  answered  that  he  him- 
self had  heard  the  clash  of  swords,  and  had  come  down  to  take 
order  with  those  who  had  been  so  insolent  so  near  the  Queen's 
presence. 

"Nay,  then,"  said  Hunsdon,  "I  wiU  be  glad  of  your  lord- 
ship's company." 

Leicester  was  thus  compelled  to  turn  back  with  the  rough 
old  lord  to  the  Pleasance,  where  Hunsdon  heard  from  the  yeo- 
men of  the  guard,  who  were  under  his  immediate  command, 
the  unsuccessful  search  they  had  made  for  the  authors  of  the 
disturbance ;  and  bestowed  for  their  pains  some  round  dozen 
of  curses  on  them,  as  lazy  knaves  and  blind  whoresons.  Leices- 
ter also  thought  it  necessary  to  seem  angry  that  no  discov- 
ery had  been  effected;  but  at  length  suggested  to  Lord  Huns- 
don that,  after  all,  it  could  only  be  some  foolish  young  men 
who  had  been  drinking  healths  pottle-deep,  and  who  would  be 
sufficiently  scared  by  the  search  which  had  taken  place  after 


KENILWORTH.  47t 

them.  Hunsdon,  who  was  himself  attached  to  his  eup,  al- 
lowed that  a  pint-flagon  might  cover  many  of  the  follies  which 
it  had  caused.  "  But, "  he  added,  "  imless  your  lordship  will 
be  less  liberal  in  your  housekeeping,  and  restrain  the  overflow 
of  ale,  and  wine,  and  wassail,  I  foresee  it  will  end  in  my  hav- 
ing some  of  these  good  fellows  into  the  guard-house,  and  treat- 
ing them  to  a  dose  of  the  strappado.  And  with  this  warning^ 
good-night  to  you." 

Joyful  at  being  rid  of  his  company,  Leicester  took  leave  of 
him  at  the  entrance  of  his  lodging,  where  they  had  first  met, 
and  entering  the  private  passage,  took  up  the  lamp  which  he 
had  left  there,  and  by  its  expiring  light  found  the  way  to  his 
own  apartment. 


CHAPTER   XXXIX. 

Room !  room  !  for  my  horse  will  wince 

If  he  comes  within  so  many  yards  of  a  prince ; 

For  to  tell  you  true,  and  in  rhyme, 

He  was  foal'd  in  Queen  Elizabeth's  time  ; 

When  the  great  Earl  of  Lester 

In  his  castle  did  feast  her. 

Ben  Jonson,  Masque  of  Owls. 

The  amusement  with  which  Elizabeth  and  her  court  were 
next  day  to  be  regaled  was  an  exhibition  by  the  true-hearted 
men  of  Coventry,  who  were  to  represent  the  strife  between 
the  English  and  the  Danes,  agreeably  to  a  custom  long  pre- 
served in  their  ancient  borough,  and  warranted  for  truth  by 
old  histories  and  chronicles.  In  this  pageant,  one  party  of 
the  tOAvnsfolk  presented  the  Saxons  and  the  other  the  Danes, 
and  set  forth,  both  in  rude  rhymes  and  with  hard  blows,  the 
contentions  of  these  two  fierce  nations,  and  the  Amazonian 
courage  of  the  English  women,  who,  according  to  the  story, 
were  the  principal  agents  in  the  general  massacre  of  the  Danes, 
which  took  place  at  Hocktide,  in  the  year  of  God  1012.  This 
sport,  which  had  been  long  a  favourite  pastime  with  the  men 
of  Coventry,  had,  it  seems,  been  put  down  by  the  influence  of 
some  zealous  clergyman  of  the  more  precise  cast,  who  chanced 


472  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

to  have  considerable  influence  with  the  magistrates.  But  the 
generality  of  the  inhabitants  had  petitioned  the  Queen  that 
they  might  have  their  play  again,  and  be  honoured  with  per- 
mission to  represent  it  before  her  Highness,  And  when  the 
matter  was  canvassed  in  the  little  council  which  usually  at- 
tended the  Queen  for  despatch  of  business,  the  proposal, 
although  opposed  by  some  of  the  stricter  sort,  found  favour  in 
the  eyes  of  Elizabeth,  who  said  that  such  toys  occupied,  Avith- 
out  offence,  the  minds  of  many  who,  lacking  them,  might  J&nd 
worse  subjects  of  pastime;  and  that  their  pastors,  however 
eommenable  for  learning  and  godliness,  were  somewhat  too 
sour  in  preaching  against  the  pastimes  of  their  flocks ;  and  so 
the  pageant  was  permitted  to  proceed. 

Accordingly,  after  a  morning  repast,  which  Master  Laneham 
calls  an  ambrosial  breakfast,  the  principal  persons  of  the  court, 
in  attendance  upon  her  Majesty,  pressed  to  the  Gallery  Tower, 
to  witness  the  approach  of  the  two  contending  parties  of  Eng- 
lish and  Danes ;  and  after  a  signal  had  been  given,  the  gate 
which  opened  in  the  circuit  of  the  chase  was  thrown  wide  to 
admit  them.  On  they  came,  foot  and  horse ;  for  some  of  the 
more  ambitious  burghers  and  yeomen  had  put  themselves  into 
fantastic  dresses,  imitating  knights,  in  order  to  resemble  the 
chivalry  of  the  two  different  nations.  However,  to  prevent 
fatal  accidents,  they  were  not  permitted  to  appear  on  real 
horses,  but  had  only  license  to  accoutre  themselves  with  those 
hobby-horses,  as  they  are  caUed,  which  anciently  formed  the 
chief  delight  of  a  morrice-dance,  and  which  still  are  exhibited 
on  the  stage,  in  the  grand  battle  fought  at  the  conclusion  of 
Mr.  Bayes's  tragedy.  The  infantry  followed  in  similar  dis- 
guises. The  whole  exhibition  was  to  be  considered  as  a  sort 
of  anti-masque,  or  burlesque  of  the  more  stately  pageants,  in 
which  the  nobility  and  gentry  bore  part  in  the  show,  and,  to 
the  best  of  their  knowledge,  imitated  with  accuracy  the  per- 
sonages whom  they  represented.  The  Hocktide  play  was  of 
a  different  character,  the  actors  being  persons  of  inferior  de- 
gree, and  their  habits  the  l)etter  fitted  for  the  occasion  the 
more  incongruous  and  ridiculous  that  they  were  in  themselves. 
Accordingly,  their  array,  which  the  progress  of  our  tale  allows 


KENILWORTH.  473 

us  no  time  to  describe,  was  ludicrous  enough,  and  their 
weapons,  though  sufficiently  formidable  to  deal  sovmd  blows, 
were  long  alder-poles  instead  of  lances,  and  sound  cudgels  for 
swords;  and  for  fence,  both  cavalry  and  mfantry  were  well, 
equipped  with  stout  head-pieces  and  targets,  both  made  of 
thick  leather. 

Captam  Coxe,  that  celebrated  humourist  of  Coventry,  whose 
library  of  ballads,  almanacks,  and  penny  histories,  fairly 
wrapped  up  in  parchment,  and  tied  round  for  security  with  a 
piece  of  whipcord,  remains  still  the  envy  of  antiquaries,  being 
himself  the  ingenious  person  under  whose  direction  the  pageant 
had  been  set  forth,  rode  valiantly  on  his  hobby-horse  before 
the  bands  of  English,  high-trussed,  saith  Laneham,  and  bran- 
dishmg  his  long  sword,  as  became  an  experienced  man  of  war, 
who  had  fought  under  the  Queen's  father,  bluff  King  Henry, 
at  the  siege  of  Boulogne.  This  chieftain  was,  as  right  and 
reason  ci*aved,  the  first  to  enter  the  lists,  and,  passing  the 
gallery  at  the  head  of  his  mjn-midons,  kissed  the  hilt  of  hi& 
sword  to  the  Queen,  and  executed  at  the  same  time  a  gambade, 
the  like  whereof  had  never  been  practised  by  two-legged 
hobby-horse.  Then  passing  on  with  all  his  followers  of  cava- 
liers and  infantry,  he  drew  them  up  with  martial  skill  at  the 
opposite  extremity  of  the  bridge,  or  tilt-yard,  until  his  antag- 
onists should  be  fairly  prepared  for  the  onset. 

This  was  no  long  interval;  for  the  Danish  cavalry  and  in- 
fantry, no  way  inferior  to  the  English  in  number,  valour,  and 
equipment,  instantly  arrived,  Avith  the  noi-thern  bagpipe  blow- 
ing before  them  in  token  of  their  countiy,  and  headed  by  a 
cunning  master  of  defence,  only  inferior  to  the  renowned  Cap- 
tain Coxe,  if  to  him,  in  the  discipline  of  war.  The  Danes, 
as  invaders,  took  their  station  under  the  Gallery  Tower,  and 
opposite  to  that  of  Mortimer;  and,  when  their  arrangements 
were  completely  made,  a  signal  was  given  for  the  encounter. 

Their  first  charge  upon  each  other  was  rather  moderate,  for 
either  party  had  some  dread  of  being  forced  into  the  lake. 
But  as  reinforcements  came  up  on  either  side,  the  encounter- 
grew  from  a  skirmish  into  a  blazing  battle.  They  rushed 
upon  one  another,  as  Master  Laneham  testifies,  like  rams  in- 


474  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

flamed  by  jealousy,  with  such  furious  encounter  that  both 
parties  were  often  overthrown,  and  the  clubs  and  targets  made 
a  most  horrible  clatter.  In  many  instances  that  happened 
which  had  been  dreaded  by  the  more  experienced  warriors 
who  began  the  day  of  strife.  The  rails  which  defended  the 
ledges  of  the  bridge  had  been,  perhaps  on  purpose,  left  but 
slightly  fastened,  and  gave  way  under  the  pressure  of  those 
who  thronged  to  the  combat,  so  that  the  hot  courage  of  many 
of  the  combatants  received  a  sufficient  cooling.  These  inci- 
dents might  have  occasioned  more  serious  damage  than  became 
such  an  affray,  for  many  of  the  champions  who  met  with  this 
mischance  could  not  swim,  and  those  who  could  were  encum- 
bered with  their  suits  of  leathern  and  of  paper  armour ;  but 
the  case  had  been  provided  for,  and  there  were  several  boats 
in  readiness  to  pick  up  the  unfortunate  warriors  and  convey 
them  to  the  dry  land,  where,  dripping  and  dejected,  they 
comforted  themselves  with  the  hot  ale  and  strong  waters 
which  were  liberally  allowed  to  them,  without  showing  any 
desire  to  re-enter  so  desperate  a  conflict. 

Captain  Coxe  alone,  that  paragon  of  black-letter  antiquaries, 
after  twice  experiencing,  horse  and  man,  the  perilous  leap  from 
the  bridge  into  the  lake,  equal  to  any  extremity  to  which  the 
favourite  heroes  of  chivalry,  whose  exploits  he  studied  in  an 
abridged  form,  whether  Amadis,  Belianis,  Bevis,  or  his  own 
Guy  of  Warwick,  had  ever  been  subjected  to — Captain  Coxe, 
we  repeat,  did  alone,  after  two  such  mischances,  rush  again 
into  the  heat  of  conflict,  his  bases  and  the  foot-cloth  of  his 
hobby-horse  dropping  water,  and  twice  reanimated  by  voice 
and  example  the  drooping  spirits  of  the  English ;  so  that  at 
length  their  victory  over  the  Danish  invaders  became,  as  was 
just  and  reasonable,  complete  and  decisive.  Worthy  he  was 
to  be  rendered  immortal  by  the  pen  of  Ben  Jonson,  who,  fifty 
years  afterwards,  deemed  that  a  masque,  exhibited  at  Kenil- 
worth,  could  be  ushered  in  by  none  with  so  much  propriety  as 
by  the  ghost  of  Captain  Coxe,  mounted  upon  his  redoubted 
hobby-horse. 

These  rough  rural  gambols  may  not  altogether  agree  with 
the  reader's  preconceived  idea  of  an  entertainment  presented 


KENILWORTH.  475 

before  Elizabeth,  in  whose  reign  letters  revived  with  suck 
brilliancy,  and  whose  court,  governed  by  a  female  whose  sense 
of  propriety  was  equal  to  her  strength  of  mind,  was  no  less 
distinguished  for  delicacy  and  refinement  than  her  councils  for 
wisdom  and  fortitude.  But  whether  from  the  political  wish 
to  seem  interested  in  popular  sports,  or  whether  from  a  spark 
of  old  Henry's  rough  masculine  spirit,  which  Elizabeth  some- 
times displayed,  it  is  certain  the  Queen  laughed  heartily  at  the 
imitation,  or  rather  burlesque,  of  chivalry  which  was  presented 
in  the  Coventry  play.  She  called  near  her  person  the  Earl  of 
Sussex  and  Lord  Hunsdon,  partly  perhaps  to  make  amends  to 
the  former  for  the  long  and  private  au.diences  with  which  she 
had  indulged  the  Earl  of  Leicester,  by  engagmg  him  in  con- 
versation upon  a  pastime  which  better  suited  his  taste  than 
those  pageants  that  were  furnished  forth  from  the  stores  of 
antiquity.  The  disposition  which  the  Queen  showed  to  laugh 
and  jest  with  her  military  leaders  gave  the  Earl  of  Leicester 
the  opportunity  he  had  been  watching  for  withdrawing  frora 
the  royal  presence,  which  to  the  court  around,  so  well  had  he 
chosen  his  time,  had  the  graceful  appearance  of  leaving  his 
rival  free  access  to  the  Queen's  person  instead  of  availing 
himself  of  his  right  as  [her  landlord  to  stand  perpetually  be- 
twixt others  and  the  light  of  her  countenance. 

Leicester's  thoughts,  however,  had  a  far  different  object 
from  mere  courtesy ;  for  no  sooner  did  he  see  the  Queen  fairly 
engaged  in  conversation  with  Sussex  and  Hunsdon,  behind 
whose  back  stood  Sir  Nicholas  Blount,  grinning  from  ear  to 
ear  at  each  word  which  was  spoken,  than,  making  a  sign  to 
Tressilian,  who,  according  to  appointment,  watched  his  mo- 
tions at  a  little  distance,  he  extricated  himself  from  the  press, 
and  walking  towards  the  chase,  made  his  way  through  the 
crowds  of  ordinary  spectators,  who,  with  open  mouth,  stood 
gazing  on  the  battle  of  the  English  and  the  Danes.  When  he 
had  accomplished  this,  which  was  a  work  of  some  difficulty, 
he  shot  another  glance  behind  him  to  see  that  Tressilian  had 
been  equally  successful,  and  as  soon  as  he  saw  him  also  free 
from  the  crowd,  he  led  the  way  to  a  small  thicket,  behind 
which  stood  a  lackey  with  two  horses  ready  saddled.     He 


476  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

fiuug  hianself  on  the  one,  and  made  signs  to  Tressilian  to 
mount  the  other,  who  obeyed  without  speaking  a  single 
■word. 

Leicester  then  spurred  his  horse,  and  galloped  without 
stopping  until  he  reached  a  sequestered  spot,  environed  by- 
lofty  oaks,  about  a  mile's  distance  from  the  castle,  and  in  an 
opposite  direction  from  the  scene  to  which  curiosity  was  draw- 
ing every  spectator.  He  there  dismounted,  bound  his  horse 
to  a  tree,  and  only  pronouncing  the  words,  "  Here  there  is  no 
xisk  of  interruption, "  laid  his  cloak  across  his  saddle  and  drew 
his  sword. 

Tressilian  imitated  his  example  punctually,  yet  could  not 
forbear  saying,  as  he  drew  his  weajDon,  "  My  lord,  as  I  have 
been  known  to  many  as  one  who  does  not  fear  death,  when 
placed  in  balance  with  honour,  methinks  I  may  without  dero- 
gation ask,  wherefore,  in  the  name  of  all  that  is  honourable, 
your  lordship  has  dared  to  offer  me  such  a  mark  of  disgrace  as 
places  us  on  these  terms  with  respect  to  each  other?" 

"  If  you  like  not  svich  marks  of  my  scorn, "  replied  the  earl, 
^'  betake  yourself  instantly  to  your  weapon,  lest  I  repeat  the 
usage  you  complain  of." 

"  It  shall  not  need,  my  lord, "  said  Tressilian.  "  God  judge 
betwixt  us!  and  your  blood,  if  you  fall,  be  on  your  own 
head." 

He  had  scarce  completed  the  sentence  when  they  instantly 
closed  in  combat. 

But  Leicester,  who  was  a  perfect  master  of  defence  among 
■all  other  exterior  accomplishments  of  the  time,  had  seen,  on 
the  preceding  night,  enough  of  Tressilian' s  strength  and  skill 
to  make  him  fight  with  more  caution  than  heretofore,  and  pre- 
fer a  secure  revenge  to  a  hasty  one.  For  some  minutes  they 
fought  with  equal  skill  and  fortune,  till,  in  a  desperate  lunge 
which  Leicester  successfully  put  aside,  Tressilian  exposed 
himself  at  disadvantage;  and,  in  a  subsequent  attempt  to 
close,  the  earl  forced  his  sword  from  his  hand  and  stretched 
him  on  the  ground.  With  a  giim  smile,  he  held  the  point  of 
his  rapier  within  two  inches  of  the  throat  of  his  fallen  ad- 
-versary,  and  placing  his  foot  at  the  same  time  upon  his  breast, 


KENILWORTH.  477 

bid  him  confess  his  villainous  wrongs  towards  him,  and 
prepare  for  death. 

''I  have  no  villainy  nor  wrong  towards  thee  to  confess," 
answered  Tressilian,  "  and  am  better  prepared  for  death  than 
thou.  Use  thine  advantage  as  thou  wilt,  and  may  God  for- 
give you!     I  have  given  you  no  cause  for  this." 

"1^0  cause!"  exclaimed  the  earl — "no  cause!  But  why 
parley  with  such  a  slave?     Die  a  liar,  as  thou  hast  lived!" 

He  had  withdrawn  his  arm  for  the  purpose  of  striking  the 
fatal  blow,  when  it  was  suddenly  seized  from  behind. 

The  earl  turned  in  wrath  to  shake  off  the  unexpected  ob- 
stacle, but  was  surprised  to  find  that  a  strange-looking  boy 
had  hold  of  his  sword-arm,  and  clung  to  it  with  such  tenacity 
of  grasp  that  he  could  not  shake  him  off  without  a  considerable 
struggle,  in  the  course  of  which  Tressilian  had  opportunity  to 
rise  and  possess  himself  once  more  of  his  weapon.  Leicester 
again  turned  towards  him  with  looks  of  unabated  ferocity, 
and  the  combat  would  have  recommenced  with  still  more 
desperation  on  both  sides,  had  not  the  boy  clung  to  Lord 
Leicester's  knees,  and  in  a  shrill  tone  implored  him  to  listen 
one  moment  ere  he  prosecuted  this  quarrel. 

"  Stand  up,  and  let  me  go, "  said  Leicester,  "  or,  by  Heaven, 
I  will  pierce  thee  with  my  rapier!  "What  hast  thou  to  do  to 
bar  my  way  to  revenge?" 

"Much — much!"  exclaimed  the  undaunted  boy;  "since  my 
folly  has  been  the  caiise  of  these  bloody  quarrels  between  you, 
and  perchance  of  worse  evils.  Oh,  if  you  would  ever  again  en- 
joy the  peace  of  an  innocent  mind,  if  you  hope  agam  to  sleep 
in  peace  and  unhaunted  by  remorse,  take  so  much  leisure  as 
to  peruse  this  letter,  and  then  do  as  you  list." 

While  he  spoke  in  this  eager  and  earnest  manner,  to  which 
his  singular  features  and  voice  gave  a  goblin-like  effect,  he 
held  up  to  Leicester  a  packet,  secured  with  a  long  tress  of 
woman's  hair,  of  a  beautiful  light  brown  colour.  Enraged  as 
he  was,  nay,  almost  blinded  with  fury  to  see  his  destined  re- 
venge so  strangely  frustrated,  the  Earl  of  Leicester  could  not 
resist  this  extraordinary  supplicant.  He  snatched  the  latter 
from  his  hand,  changed  colour  as  he  looked  on  the  superscrip- 


478  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

tion,  undid,  with  faltering  hand,  the  knot  which  secured  it, 
glanced  over  the  contents,  and,  staggering  back,  would  have 
fallen,  had  he  not  rested  against  the  trunk  of  a  tree,  where  he 
stood  for  an  instant,  his  eyes  bent  on  the  letter,  and  his 
sword-point  turned  to  the  ground,  without  seeming  to  be  con- 
scious of  the  presence  of  an  antagonist  towards  whom  he  had 
shown  little  mercy,  and  who  might  in  turn  have  taken  him  at 
advantage.  But  for  such  revenge  Tressilian  was  too  noble- 
minded  ;  he  also  stood  still  in  surprise,  waiting  the  issue  of 
this  strange  fit  of  passion,  but  holding  his  weapon  ready  to 
defend  himself,  in  case  of  need,  against  some  new  and  sudden 
attack  on  the  part  of  Leicester,  whom  he  again  suspected  to 
be  under  the  influence  of  actual  frenzy.  The  boy,  indeed,  he 
easily  recognised  as  his  old  acquaintance  Dickon,  whose  face, 
once  seen,  was  scarcely  to  be  forgotten;  but  how  he  came 
thither  at  so  critical  a  moment,  why  his  interference  was  so 
energetic,  and,  above  ^all,  how  it  came  to  produce  so  powerful 
an  effect  upon  Leicester,  were  questions  which  he  could  not 
solve. 

But  the  letter  was  of  itself  powerful  enough  to  work  effects 
yet  more  wonderful.  It  was  that  which  the  unfortunate  Amy 
had  written  to  her  husband,  in  which  she  alleged  the  reasons 
and  manner  of  her  flight  from  Cumnor  Place,  informed  him  of 
her  having  made  her  way  to  Kenilworth  to  enjoy  his  protec- 
tion, and  mentioned  the  circumstances  which  had  compelled 
her  to  take  refuge  in  Tressilian 's  apartment,  earnestly  request- 
ing he  would,  without  delay,  assign  her  a  more  suitable  asylum. 
The  letter  concluded  with  the  most  earnest  expressions  of  de- 
voted attachment  and  submission  to  his  will  in  all  things,  and 
particularly  respecting  her  situation  and  place  of  residence,, 
conjuring  him  only  that  she  might  not  be  placed  under  the 
guardianship  or  restraint  of  Varney. 

The  letter  dropped  from  Leicester's  hand  when  he  had 
perused  it.  "Take  my  sword,"  he  said,  "Tressilian,  and 
pierce  my  heart,  as  I  would  but  now  have  pierced  yours!" 

"  My  lord, "  said  Tressilian,  "  you  have  done  me  great  wrong  j 
but  something  within  my  breast  ever  whispered  that  it  was  by 
egregious  error." 


KENILWORTH.  479 

"Error  indeed!"  said  Leicester,  and  handed  him  the  letter; 
*'  I  have  been  made  to  believe  a  man  of  honour  a  villain,  and 
the  best  and  purest  of  creatures  a  false  profligate.  Wretched 
boy,  why  comes  this  letter  now,  and  where  has  the  bearer 
lingered?" 

"I  dare  not  tell  you,  my  lord,"  said  the  boy,  withdrawing, 
as  if  to  keep  beyond  his  reach ;  "  but  here  comes  one  who  was 
the  messenger." 

Wayland  at  the  same  moment  came  up;  and,  interrogated 
by  Leicester,  hastily  detailed  all  the  circumstances  of  his  es- 
cape with  Amy,  the  fatal  practices  which  had  driven  her  to 
flight,  and  her  anxious  desire  to  throw  herself  under  the  in- 
stant protection  of  her  husband,  pointing  out  the  evidence  of 
the  domestics  of  Kenilworth,  "  who  could  not, "  he  observed, 
"  but  remember  her  eager  inquiries  after  the  Earl  of  Leicester 
on  her  first  arrival." 

"  The  villains !"  exclaimed  Leicester ;  "  but  oh,  that  worst  of 
villains,  Varney!  and  she  is  even  now  in  his  power!" 

"  But  not,  I  trust  in  God, "  said  Tressilian,  "  with  any 
commands  of  fatal  import?" 

"  No — no — no !"  exclaimed  the  earl,  hastily.  "  I  said  some- 
thing in  madness ;  but  it  was  recalled — fully  recalled — by  a 
hasty  messenger;  and  she  is  now — she  must  now  be  safe." 

"Yes,"  said  Tressilian,  "she  must  be  safe,  and  I  must  be 
assured  of  her  safety.  My  own  quarrel  with  you  is  ended, 
my  lord ;  but  there  is  another  to  begin  with  the  seducer  of  Amy 
Eobsart,  who  has  screened  his  guilt  under  the  cloak  of  the 
infamous  Varney." 

"  The  seducer  of  Amy!"  replied  Leicester,  with  a  voice  like 
thunder;  "say  her  husband! — her  misguided,  blinded,  most 
imworthy  husband!  She  is  as  surely  Countess  of  Leicester  as 
I  am  belted  earl.  Nor  can  you,  sir,  point  out  that  manner  of 
justice  which  I  will  not  render  her  at  my  own  free  will.  I 
need  scarce  say,  I  fear  not  your  compulsion." 

The  generous  nature  of  Tressilian  was  instantly  turned  from 
consideration  of  anything  personal  to  himself,  and  centred  at 
once  upon  Amy's  welfare.  He  had  by  no  means  undoubting 
confidence  in  the  fluctuating  resolutions  of  Leicester,  whose 


480  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

mind  seemed  to  him  agitated  beyond  the  government  of  calm 
reason ;  neither  did  he,  notwithstanding  the  assurances  he  had 
received,  think  Amy  safe  in  the  hands  of  his  dependants. 
•'My  lord,"  he  said,  caknly,  *'I  mean  you  no  offence,  and 
am  far  from  seekmg  a  quarreL  But  my  duty  to  Sir  Hugh 
Robsart  compels  me  to  carry  this  matter  instantly  to  the 
Queen,  that  the  countess's  rank  may  be  acknowledged  in  her 
person. " 

''  You  shall  not  need,  sir, "  replied  the  earl,  haughtily ;  "  do 
not  dare  to  interfere.  No  voice  but  Dudley's  shall  proclaim 
Dudley's  infamy.  To  Elizabeth  herself  will  I  tell  it,  and  then 
for  Cumnor  Place  with  the  speed  of  life  and  death!" 

So  saying,  he  unboimd  his  horse  from  the  street,  threw  him- 
self into  the  saddle,  and  rode  at  full  gallop  towards  the  castle. 

"  Take  me  before  you,  Master  Tressiliau, "  said  the  boy, 
seeing  Tressilian  mount  in  the  same  haste;  "my  tale  is  not 
all  told  out,  and  I  need  your  protection." 

Tressilian  complied,  and  followed  the  earl,  though  at  a  less 
furious  rate.  By  the  way  the  boy  confessed,  with  much  con- 
trition, that  in  resentment  at  Wayland's  evading  all  his  in- 
quiries concerning  the  lady,  after  Dickon  conceived  he  had 
in  various  ways  merited  his  confidence,  he  had  purloined  from 
him,  in  revenge,  the  letter  with  which  Amy  had  entrusted  him 
for  the  Earl  of  Leicester.  His  purpose  was  to  have  restored 
it  to  him  that  evening,  as  he  reckoned  himself  sure  of  meeting 
with  him,  in  consequence  of  Wayland's  having  to  perform  the 
part  of  Arion  in  the  pageant.  He  was  indeed  something 
alarmed  when  he  saw  to  whom  the  letter  was  addressed ;  but 
he  argued  that,  as  Leicester  did  not  return  to  Kenil worth  until 
that  evening,  it  would  be  again  in  the  possession  of  the  proper 
messenger  as  soon  as,  in  the  nature  of  things,  it  could  possibly 
be  delivered.  But  Wayland  came  not  to  the  pageant,  having 
been  in  the  interim  expelled  by  Lambourne  from  the  castle, 
and  the  boy,  not  being  able  to  find  him,  or  to  get  speech  of 
Tressilian,  and  finding  himself  in  possession  of  a  letter  ad- 
dressed to  no  less  a  person  than  the  Earl  of  Leicester,  became 
much  afraid  of  the  consequences  of  his  frolic.  The  caution, 
and  indeed  the  alarm,  which  Wayland  had  expressed  respect- 


KENILWORTH.  481 

ing  Yarney  and  Lambourne,  led  him  to  judge  tliat  the  letter 
must  be  designed  for  the  earl's  own  hand,  and  that  he  might 
prejudice  the  lady  by  giving  it  to  any  of  the  domestics.  He 
made  an  attempt  or  two  to  obtain  an  audience  of  Leicester, 
but  the  singularity  of  his  features  and  the  meanness  of  his 
appearance  occasioned  his  being  always  repulsed  by  the  inso- 
lent menials  whom  he  applied  to  for  that  purpose.  Once,  in- 
deed, he  had  nearly  succeeded,  when,  in  prowling  about,  he 
found  in  the  grotto  the  casket  which  he  knew  to  belong  to  the 
unlucky  countess,  having  seen  it  on  her  journey,  for  nothing 
escaped  his  prying  eye.  Having  strove  in  vain  to  restore  it 
either  to  Tressilian  or  the  countess,  he  put  it  into  the  hands, 
as  we  have  seen,  of  Leicester  himseK,  but  unfortunately  he 
did  not  recognise  him  in  his  disguise. 

At  length  the  boy  thought  he  was  on  the  point  of  succeed- 
ing, when  the  earl  came  down  to  the  lower  j)art  of  the  hall; 
but  just  as  he  was  about  to  accost  him,  he  was  prevented  by 
Tressilian.  As  sharp  in  ear  as  in  wit,  the  boy  heard  the  ap- 
pointment settled  betwixt  them  to  take  place  in  the  Pleasance, 
and  resolved  to  add  a  third  to  the  party,  in  hopes  that,  either 
in  coming  or  in  returning,  he  might  find  an  opportunity  of 
delivering  the  letter  to  Leicester ;  for  strange  stories  began  to 
flit  among  the  domestics,  which  alarmed  him  for  the  lady's 
safety.  Accident,  however,  detained  Dickon  a  little  behind 
the  earl,  and,  as  he  reached  the  arcade,  he  saw  them  engaged 
in  combat ;  in  consequence  of  which  he  hastened  to  alarm  the 
guard,  having  little  doubt  that  what  bloodshed  took  place  be- 
twixt them  might  arise  out  of  his  own  frolic.  Continuing  to 
lurk  in  the  portico,  he  heard  the  second  appointment  which 
Leicester,  at  parting,  assigned  to  Tressilian,  and  was  keeping 
them  in  view  during  the  encounter  of  the  Coventry  men,  when, 
to  his  surprise,  he  recognised  Wayland  in  the  crowd,  much 
disguised,  indeed,  but  not  sufficiently  so  to  escape  the  prying 
glance  of  his  old  comrade.  They  drew  aside  out  of  the  crowd 
to  explain  their  situation  to  each  other.  The  boy  confessed 
to  Wayland  what  we  have  above  told,  and  the  artist,  in  re- 
turn, informed  him  that  his  deep  anxiety  for  the  fate  of  the 
unfortunate  lady  had  brought  him  back  to  the  neighbourhood 
31 


482  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

of  the  castle,  upon  his  learning  that  morning  at  a  village  about 
ten  miles  distant  that  Varney  and  Lambourne,  whose  violence 
he  dreaded,  had  both  left  Kenilworth  over-night. 

While  they  spoke,  they  saw  Leicester  and  Tressilian  sepa- 
rate themselves  from  the  crowd,  dogged  them  until  they 
mounted  their  horses,  when  the  boy,  whose  speed  of  foot  has 
been  before  mentioned,  though  he  could  not  possibly  keep  up 
with  them,  yet  arrived,  as  we  have  seen,  soon  enough  to  save 
Tressilian's  life.  The  boy  had  just  finished  his  tale  when 
they  reached  the  Gallery  Tower. 


CHAPTER  XL. 


High  o'er  the  eastern  steep  the  sun  is  beaming, 
And  darkness  flies  with  her  deceitful  shadows ; 
So  truth  prevails  or  falsehood. 

Old  Play. 

As  Tressilian  rode  along  the  bridge  lately  the  scene  of  so 
much  riotous  sport,  he  could  not  but  observe  that  men's  counte- 
nances had  singularly  changed  during  the  space  of  his  brief 
absence.  The  mock  fight  was  over,  but  the  men,  still  habited 
in  their  masquing  suits,  stood  together  in  groups,  like  the  in- 
habitants of  a  city  who  have  been  just  startled  by  some  strange 
and  alarming  news. 

When  he  reached  the  base-oourt,  appearances  were  the 
same;  domestics,  retainers,  and  under  officers  stood  together 
and  whispered,  bending  their  eyes  towards  the  windows  of  the 
great  hall,  with  looks  which  seemed  at  once  alarmed  and 
mysterious. 

Sir  Nicholas  Blount  was  the  first  person  of  his  own  particu- 
lar acquaintance  Tressilian  saw,  who  left  him  no  time  to  make 
inquiries,  but  greeted  him  with,  "  God  help  thy  heart,  Tressil- 
ian, thou  art  fitter  for  a  clown  than  a  courtier :  thou  canst  not 
attend,  as  becomes  one  who  follows  her  Majesty.  Here  you 
are  called  for,  wished  for,  waited  for — no  man  but  you  will 
serve  the  turn ;  and  hither  you  come  with  a  misbegotten  brat 
on  thy  horse's  neck,  as  if  thou  wert  dry  nurse  to  some  sucking 
devil,  and  wert  just  returned  from  airing." 


KENILWOETH.  483 

"Why,  what  is  the  matter?"  said  Tressiliaii,  letting  go  the 
boy,  who  sprung  to  ground  like  a  feather,  and  himself  dis- 
mounting at  the  same  time. 

"  Why,  no  one  knows  the  matter, "  replied  Blount.  "  I  can- 
not smell  it  out  myself,  though  I  have  a  nose  like  other  court- 
iers. Only,  my  Lord  of  Leicester  has  galloped  along  the 
bridge,  as  if  he  would  have  rode  over  all  in  his  passage,  de- 
manded an  audience  of  the  Queen,  and  is  closeted  even  now 
with  her  and  Burleigh  and  Walsingham ;  and  you  are  called 
for;  but  whether  the  matter  be  treason  or  worse,  no  one 
knows." 

"  He  speaks  true,  by  Heaven  I"  said  Ealeigh,  who  that  in- 
stant appeared ;  "  you  must  immediately  to  the  Queen's  pres- 
ence." 

*'  Be  not  rash,  E-aleigh, "  said  Blount,  "  remember  his  boots. 
For  Heaven's  sake,  go  to  my  chamber,  dear  Tressilian,  and 
don  my  new  bloom-coloured  silken  hose ;  I  have  worn  them 
but  twice." 

"Pshaw!"  answered  Tressilian;  " do  thou  take  care  of  this 
boy,  Blount;  be  kind  to  him,  and  look  he  escapes  you  not — ■ 
much  depends  on  him." 

So  saying,  he  followed  Ealeigh  hastily,  leaving  honest 
Blomit  with  the  bridle  of  his  horse  in  one  hand  and  the  boy  iu 
the  other. 

Blount  gave  a  long  look  after  him.  "Nobody,"  he  said, 
"  calls  me  to  these  mysteries ;  and  he  leaves  me  here  to  play 
horse-keeper  and  child-keeper  at  once.  I  could  excuse  the  one, 
for  I  love  a  good  horse  naturally ;  but  to  be  plagued  ^vith  a 
bratchet  whelp!  Whence  come  ye,  my  fair-favoured  little 
gossip?" 

^'  From  the  Fens, "  answered  the  boy. 

"And  what  didst  thou  learn  there,  forward  imp?" 

"  To  catch  gulls,  with  their  webbed  feet  and  yellow  stock- 
ings, "  said  the  boy. 

"Umph!"  said  Blount,  looking  down  on  his  own  immense 
roses.  "  Nay,  then  the  devil  take  him  asks  thee  more  ques- 
tions." 

Meantime,  Tressilian  traversed  the  full  length  of  the  great 


484  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

hall,  in  which  the  astonished  courtiers  formed  various  groups, 
and  were  whispering  mysteriously  together,  while  all  kept 
their  eyes  fixed  on  the  door  which  led  from  the  upper  end  of 
the  hall  mto  the  Queen's  withdrawing-apartment.  Ealeigh 
pointed  to  the  door.  Tressilian  knocked,  and  was  instantly 
admitted.  Many  a  neck  was  stretched  to  gain  a  view  into  the 
interior  of  the  apartment ;  but  the  tapestry  which  covered  the 
door  on  the  inside  was  dropped  too  suddenly  to  admit  the 
slightest  gratification  of  curiosity. 

Upon  entrance,  TressUian  found  himself,  not  without  a 
strong  palpitation  of  heart,  in  the  presence  of  Elizabeth,  who 
was  walking  to  and  fro  in  a  violent  agitation,  which  she  seemed 
to  scorn  to  conceal,  while  two  or  three  of  her  most  sage  and 
confidential  counsellors  exchanged  anxious  looks  with  each 
other,  but  delayed  speaking  till  her  wrath  had  abated.  Before 
the  empty  chair  of  state  in  which  she  had  been  seated,  and 
which  was  haK  pushed  aside  by  the  violence  with  which  she 
had  started  from  it,  knelt  Leicester,  his  arms  crossed  and  his 
brows  bent  on  the  ground,  still  and  motionless  as  the  efiigies 
upon  a  sepulchre.  Beside  him  'stood  the  Lord  Shrewsbury, 
then  Earl  Marshal  of  England,  holding  his  baton  of  office; 
the  earl's  sword  was  unbuckled,  and  lay  before  him  on  the 
floor. 

*'  Ho,  sir, "  said  the  Queen,  coming  close  up  to  Tressilian, 
and  stamping  on  the  floor  with  the  action  and  manner  of  Henry 
himseK;  ''you  knew  of  this  fair  work — you  are  an  accomplice 
in  this  deception  which  has  been  practised  on  us — you  have 
been  a  main  cause  of  our  doing  injustice?"  Tressilian  dropped 
on  his  knee  before  the  Queen,  his  good  sense  showing  him  the 
risk  of  attempting  any  defence  at  that  moment  of  irritation. 
"Art  dumb,  sirrah?"  she  continued;  "thou  know'st  of  this 
affair,  dost  thou  not?" 

"  Not,  gracious  madam,  that  this  poor  lady  was  Countess  of 
Leicester." 

"  Nor  shall  any  one  know  her  for  such, "  said  Elizabeth. 
"  Death  of  my  life !  Countess  of  Leicester !  I  say  Dame  Amy 
Dudley ;  and  well  if  she  have  not  cause  to  write  herself  widow 
of  the  traitor  Robert  Dudley." 


KENILWORTH.  485 

"  Madam, "  said  Leicester,  "  do  with  me  what  it  may  be  your 
will  to  do,  but  work  no  injury  on  this  gentleman;  he  hath  in 
DO  way  deserved  it." 

"And  will  he  be  the  better  for  thy  intercession,"  said  the 
Queen,  leaving  Tressilian,  who  slowly  arose,  and  rushing  to 
Leicester,  who  continued  kneeling — "  the  better  for  thy  inter- 
cession, thou  doubly  false — thou  doubly  forsworn — of  thy  in- 
tercession, whose  villainy  hath  made  me  ridiculous  to  my  sub- 
jects and  odious  to  myself?  I  could  tear  out  mine  eyes  for 
their  blindness!" 

Burleigh  here  ventured  to  interpose. 

"Madam,"  he  said,  "remember  that  you  are  a  queen — 
Queen  of  England — mother  of  your  people.  Give  not  way  to 
this  wild  storm  of  passion." 

Elizabeth  turned  round  to  him,  while  a  tear  actually  twinkled 
in  her  proud  and  angry  eye.  "  Burleigh, "  she  said,  "  thou  art 
a  statesman ;  and  thou  dost  not,  thou  canst  not,  comprehend 
half  the  scorn,  half  the  misery,  that  man  has  poured  on 
me!" 

With  the  utmost  caution,  with  the  deepest  reverence,  Bur- 
leigh took  her  hand  at  the  moment  he  saw  her  heart  was  at 
the  fullest,  and  led  her  aside  to  an  oriel  window,  apart  from 
the  others. 

"  Madam, "  he  said,  "  I  am  a  statesman,  but  I  am  also  a 
man — a  man  already  grown  old  in  your  councils,  who  have 
not,  and  cannot  have,  a  wish  on  earth  but  your  glory  and 
happiness ;  I  pray  you  to  be  composed. " 

"Ah,  Burleigh,"  said  Elizabeth,  "thou  little  knowest " 

here  her  tears  fell  over  her  cheeks  in  despite  of  her. 

"  I  do — I  do  know,  my  honoured  sovereign.  Oh,  beware  that 
you  lead  not  others  to  guess  that  which  they  know  not!" 

"Ha!"  said  Elizabeth,  pausing  as  if  a  new  train  of  thought 
had  suddenly  shot  across  her  brain.  "Burleigh,  thou  art 
right — thou  art  right — anything  but  disgrace — anything  but 
a  confession  of  weakness — anything  rather  than  seem  the 
cheated — slighted 'Sdeath!  to  think  on  it  is  distrac- 
tion!" 

"  Be  but  yourself,  my  Queen, "  said  Burleigh  j  "  and  soar  far 


486  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

above  a  weakness  which  no  Englishman  will  ever  believe  his 
Elizabeth  could  have  entertained,  unless  the  violence  of  her 
disappointment  carries  a  sad  conviction  to  his  bosom." 

"What  weakness,  my  lord?"  said  Elizabeth,  haughtily; 
"would  you  too  insinuate  that  the  favour  in  which  I  held 

yonder  proud  traitor  derived  its  source  from  aught "     But 

here  she  could  no  longer  sustain  the  proud  tone  which  she  had 
assumed,  and  again  softened  as  she  said,  "  But  why  should 
I  strive  to  deceive  even  thee,  my  good  and  wise  servant?" 

Burleigh  stooped  to  kiss  her  hand  with  affection,  and — rare 
in  the  annals  of  courts — a  tear  of  true  sympathy  dropped  from 
the  eye  of  the  minister  on  the  hand  of  his  sovereign. 

It  is  probable  that  the  consciousness  of  possessing  this 
sympathy  aided  Elizabeth  in  supporting  her  mortification  and 
suppressing  her  extreme  resentment ;  but  she  was  still  more 
moved  by  fear  that  her  passion  should  betray  to  the  public  the 
affront  and  the  disappointment  which,  alike  as  a  woman  and 
a  queen,  she  was  so  anxious  to  conceal.  She  turned  from 
Burleigh,  and  sternly  paced  the  hall  till  her  features  had  re- 
covered their  usual  dignity  and  her  mien  its  wonted  stateliness 
of  regular  motion. 

"  Our  sovereign  is  her  noble  self  once  more, "  whispered 
Burleigh  to  Walsingham;  "mark  what  she  does,  and  take 
heed  you  thwart  her  not." 

She  then  approached  Leicester,  and  said,  with  calmness: 
"My  Lord  Shrewsbury,  we  discharge  you  of  your  prisoner. 
My  Lord  of  Leicester,  rise  and  take  up  your  sword ;  a  quarter 
of  an  hour's  restraint,  under  the  custody  of  our  marshal,  my 
lord,  is,  we  thiuk,  no  high  penance  for  months  of  falsehood 
practised  upon  us.  We  will  now  hear  the  progress  of  this 
affair. "  She  then  seated  herself  in  her  chair,  and  said,  "  You, 
Tressilian,  step  forward  and  say  what  you  know." 

Tressilian  told  his  story  generously,  suppressing  as  much  as 
he  could  what  affected  Leicester,  and  saying  nothing  of  their 
having  twice  actually  fought  together.  It  is  very  probable 
that,  in  doing  so,  he  did  the  earl  good  service ;  for  had  the 
Queen  at  that  instant  found  anything  on  account  of  which  she 
might  vent  her  wrath  upon  him,  without  laying  open  senti- 


KENILWORTH.  487 

ments  of  -wliicli  she  was  asliamed,  it  might  have  fared  hard 
with  him.     She  paused  when  Tressilian  had  finished  his  tale. 

"  We  will  take  that  Wayland,"  she  said,  "  into  our  own  ser- 
vice, and  place  the  boy  in  our  secretary  office  for  instruction, 
that  he  may  in  future  use  discretion  towards  letters.  For 
you,  Tressilian,  you  did  wrong  in  not  communicating  the 
whole  truth  to  us,  and  your  promise  not  to  do  so  was  both  im- 
prudent and  imdutiful.  Yet,  having  given  your  word  to  this 
unhappy  lady,  it  was  the  part  of  a  man  and  a  gentleman  to 
keep  it;  and,  on  the  whole,  we  esteem  you  for  the  character 
you  have  sustained  in  this  matter.  My  Lord  of  Leicester,  it 
is  now  your  turn  to  tell  us  the  truth,  an  exercise  to  which  you 
seem  of  late  to  have  been  too  much  a  stranger." 

Accordingly,  she  extorted,  by  successive  questions,  the 
whole  history  of  his  first  acquaintance  with  Amy  Robsart — 
their  marriage — his  jealousy — the  causes  on  which  it  waa 
founded,  and  many  particulars  besides.  Leicester's  confes- 
sion, for  such  it  might  be  called,  was  wrenched  from  him 
piecemeal,  yet  was  upon  the  whole  accurate,  excepting  that 
he  totally  omitted  to  mention  that  he  had,  by  implication  or 
otherwise,  assented  to  Varney's  designs  upon  the  life  of  his 
countess.  Yet  the  consciousness  of  this  was  what  at  that 
moment  lay  nearest  to  his  heart ;  and  although  he  trusted  in 
great  measure  to  the  very  postitive  counter-orders  which  he 
had  sent  by  Lambourne,  it  was  his  purpose  to  set  out  for 
Cumnor  Place  in  person  as  soon  as  he  should  be  dismissed 
from  the  presence  of  the  Queen,  who,  he  concluded,  would 
presently  leave  Kenilworth. 

But  the  earl  reckoned  without  his  host.  It  is  true,  his 
presence  and  his  communications  were  gall  and  wormwood  to 
his  once  partial  mistress.  But,  barred  from  every  other  and 
more  direct  mode  of  revenge,  the  Queen  perceived  that  she 
gave  her  false  suitor  torture  by  these  inquiries,  and  dwelt  on 
them  for  that  reason,  no  more  regarding  the  pain  which  she 
herself  experienced  than  the  savage  cai-es  for  the  searing  of 
his  own  hands  by  grasping  the  hot  pincers  with  which  he  tears 
the  flesh  of  his  captive  enemy. 

At  length,  however,  the  haughty  lord,  like  a  deer  that  turns 


488  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

to  bay,  gave  intimation  that  his  patience  was  failing. 
"Madam,"  he  said,  *'I  have  been  much  to  blame,  more  than 
even  your  just  resentment  has  expressed.  Yet,  madam,  let 
me  say,  that  my  guilt,  if  it  be  unpardonable,  was  not  unpro- 
voked; and  that,  if  beauty  and  condescending  dignity  could 
seduce  the  fraO.  heart  of  a  human  being,  I  might  plead  both 
as  the  causes  of  my  concealing  this  secret  from  your  Majesty." 

The  Queen  was  so  much  struck  by  this  reply,  which  Leices- 
ter took  care  should  be  heard  by  no  one  but  herself,  that  she 
was  for  the  moment  silenced,  and  the  earl  had  the  temerity  to 
pursue  his  advantage.  "Your  Grace,  who  has  pardoned  so 
much,  will  excuse  my  throwing  myself  on  your  royal  mercy 
for  those  expressions  which  were  yester-morning  accounted 
but  a  light  offence." 

The  Queen  fixed  her  eyes  on  him  while  she  replied :  "  Now, 
by  Heaven,  my  lord,  thy  effrontery  passes  the  bounds  of  be- 
lief as  well  as  patience!  But  it  shall  avail  thee  nothing. 
What,  ho!  my  lords,  come  all  and  hear  the  news.  My  Lord 
of  Leicester's  stolen  marriage  has  cost  me  a  husband  and 
England  a  king.  His  lordship  is  patriarchal  in  his  tastes : 
one  wife  at  a  time  was  insufficient,  and  he  designed  us  the 
honour  of  his  left  hand.  Now  is  not  this  too  insolent — that  I 
could  not  grace  him  with  a  few  marks  of  court  favour,  but  he 
must  presume  to  think  my  hand  and  crown  at  his  disposal? 
You,  however,  think  better  of  me ;  and  I  can  pity  this  am- 
bitious man,  as  I  could  a  child  whose  bubble  of  soap  has 
burst  between  his  hands.  We  go  to  the  presence-chamber. 
My  Lord  of  Leicester,  we  command  your  close  attendance 
on  us." 

All  was  eager  expectation  m  the  hall,  and  what  was  the 
universal  astonishment  when  the  Queen  said  to  those  next  her, 
"  The  revels  of  Kenilworth  are  not  yet  exhausted,  my  lords 
and  ladies;  we  are  to  solemnise  the  noble  owner's  marriage." 

There  was  an  universal  expression  of  surprise. 

"It  is  true,  on  our  royal  word,"  said  the  Queen;  "he  hath 
kept  this  a  secret  even  from  us,  that  he  might  surprise  us  with 
it  at  this  very  place  and  time.  I  see  you  are  dying  of  curi- 
osity to  know  the  happy  bride.     It  is  Amy  Robsart,  the  same 


KENILWORTH.  489 

who,  to  make  up  the  May-game  yesterday,  figured  in  the 
pageant  as  the  wife  of  his  servant  Varney. " 

"For  God's  sake,  madam,"  said  the  earl,  approaching  her 
with  a  mixture  of  humility,  vexation,  and  shame  in  his  counte- 
nance, and  speaking  so  low  as  to  be  heard  by  no  one  else, 
"  take  my  head,  as  you  threatened  in  your  anger,  and  spare 
me  these  taunts!  Urge  not  a  falling  man — tread  not  on  a 
crushed  worm." 

"A  worm,  my  lord!"  said  the  Queen,  in  the  same  tone; 
"  nay,  a  snake  is  the  nobler  reptile,  and  the  more  exact  simili- 
tude— the  frozen  snake  you  wot  of,  which  was  warmed  in  a 
certain  bosom " 

"For  your  own  sake — for  mine,  madam,"  said  the  earl — . 
"  while  there  is  yet  some  reason  left  in  me " 

"  Speak  aloud,  my  lord, "  said  Elizabeth,  "  and  at  farther 
distance,  so  please  you;  your  breath  thaws  our  ruff.  What 
have  you  to  ask  of  us?" 

'*  Permission, "  said  the  unfortunate  earl,  humbly,  "  to  travel 
to  Cumuor  Place." 

"  To  fetch  home  your  bride  belike?  Why,  ay,  that  is  but 
right,  for,  as  we  have  heard,  she  is  indifferently  cared  for 
there.  But,  my  lord,  you  go  not  in  person :  we  have  counted 
upon  passing  certaia  days  in  this  castle  of  Kenilworth,  and  it 
were  slight  courtesy  to  leave  us  without  a  landlord  during  our 
residence  here.  Under  your  favour,  we  cannot  thiuk  to  incur 
such  disgrace  in  the  eyes  of  our  subjects.  Tressilian  shall  go 
to  Cumnor  Place  instead  of  you,  and  with  him  some  gentleman 
who  hath  been  sworn  of  our  chamber,  lest  my  Lord  of  Leicester 
should  be  again  jealous  of  his  old  rival.  Whom  wouldst  thou 
have  to  be  in  commission  with  thee,  Tressilian?" 

Tressilian,  with  humble  deference,  suggested  the  name  of 
Baleigh. 

"Why,  ay,"  said  the  Queen;  "so  God  ha'  me,  thou  hast 
made  a  good  choice.  He  is  a  yomig  knight  besides,  and  to 
deliver  a  lady  from  prison  is  an  appropriate  first  adventure. 
Cumnor  Place  is  little  better  than  a  prison,  you  are  to  know, 
my  lords  and  ladies.  Besides,  there  are  certain  faitours  there 
whom  we  would  willingly  have  in  fast  keeping.     You  will 


490  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

fumish  them,  Master  Secretary,  with  the  warrant,  necessary  to 
secure  the  bodies  of  Eichard  Varney  and  the  foreign  Alasco, 
dead  or  alive.  Take  a  sufficient  force  with  you,  gentlemen ; 
bring  the  lady  here  in  all  honour;  lose  no  time,  and  God  be 
with  you!" 

They  bowed,  and  left  the  presence. 

Who  shall  describe  how  the  rest  of  that  day  was  spent  at 
Kenil worth?  The  Queen,  who  seemed  to  have  remained  there 
for  the  sole  purpose  of  mortifying  and  taunting  the  Earl  of 
Leicester,  showed  herself  as  skilful  in  that  female  art  of 
vengeance  as  she  was  in  the  science  of  wisely  governing  her 
people.  The  train  of  state  soon  caught  the  signal,  and,  as  he 
walked  among  his  own  splendid  preparations,  the  Lord  of 
Kenilworth,  in  his  own  castle,  already  experienced  the  lot  of 
a  disgraced  courtier,  in  the  slight  regard  and  cold  manners  of 
alienated  friends,  and  the  ill-concealed  triumph  of  avowed  and 
open  enemies.  Sussex,  from  his  natural  military  frankness  of 
disposition,  Burleigh  and  Walsingham,  from  their  penetrating 
and  prospective  sagacity,  and  some  of  the  ladies,  from  the 
compassion  of  their  sex,  were  the  only  persons  in  the  crowded 
court  who  retained  towards  him  the  countenance  they  had 
borne  in  the  morning. 

So  much  had  Leicester  been  accustomed  to  consider  court 
favour  as  the  principal  object  of  his  life,  that  all  other  sensa- 
tions were,  for  the  time,  lost  in  tiie  agony  which  his  haughty 
spirit  felt  at  the  succession  ef  petty  insults  and  studied  neglects 
to  which  he  had  been  subjected;  but  when  he  retired  to  his 
own  chamber  for  the  night,  that  long  fair  tress  of  hair  which 
had  once  secured  Amy's  letter  fell  un^ier  his  observation,  and 
with  the  influence  of  a  counter-charm,  awakened  his  heart  to 
nobler  and  more  natural  feelings.  He  kissed  it  a  thousand 
times ;  and  while  he  recollected  that  he  had  it  always  in  his 
power  to  shun  the  mortifications  which  he  had  that  day  under- 
gone, by  retiring  into  a  dignified  and  even  prince-like  seclusion 
with  the  beautiful  and  beloved  partner  of  his  future  life,  he 
felt  that  he  could  rise  above  the  revenge  which  Elizabeth  had 
condescended  to  take. 

Accordingly,  on  the  following  day,  the  whole  conduct  of 


KENILWORTH.  491 

the  earl  displayed  so  much  dignified  equanimity;  he  seemed 
So  solicitous  about  the  accommodations  and  amusements  of  his 
guestSj  yet  so  indifferent  to  their  personal  demeanour  towards 
him;  so  respectfully  distant  to  the  Queen,  yet  so  patient  of 
her  harassing  displeasui-e,  that  Elizabeth  changed  her  manner 
to  him,  and,  though  cold  and  distant,  ceased  to  offer  him  any 
direct  affront.  She  mtimated  also,  with  some  sharpness,  to 
others  around  her,  who  thought  they  were  consulting  her 
pleasiu'e  in  showing  a  neglectful  conduct  to  the  earl,  that, 
while  they  remained  at  Kenilworth,  they  ought  to  show  the 
civility  due  from  guests  to  the  lord  of  the  castle.  In  short, 
matters  were  so  far  changed  in  twenty-four  hours  that  some 
of  the  more  experienced  and  sagacious  courtiers  foresaw  a 
strong  possibility  of  Leicester's  restoration  to  favour,  and  regu- 
lated their  demeanour  towards  him,  as  those  who  might  one 
day  claim  merit  for  not  having  deserted  him  in  adversity.  It 
is  time,  however,  to  leave  these  intrigues,  and  follow  Tressil- 
ian  and  Ealeigh  on  their  journey. 

The  troop  consisted  of  six  persons ;  for,  besides  Wayland, 
they  had  in  company  a  royal  pursuivant  and  two  stout  serving- 
men.  All  were  well  armed,  and  travelled  as  fast  as  it  was 
possible  with  justice  to  theLt  hoi-ses,  which  had  along  journey 
before  them.  They  endeavoured  to  procure  some  tidings  as 
they  rode  along  of  Varney  and  his  party,  but  could  hear  none, 
as  they  had  travelled  in  the  dark.  At  a  small  village  about 
twelve  miles  from  Kenilworth,  where  they  gave  some  refresh- 
ment to  theu-  horses  a  poor  clergyman,  the  curate  of  the  place, 
came  out  of  a  small  cottage,  and  entreated  any  of  the  company 
who  might  know  aught  of  surgery  to  look  in  for  an  instant  on 
a  dying  man. 

The  empiric  Wayland  undertook  to  do  his  best,  and  as  the 
curate  conducted  him  to  the  spot,  he  learned  that  the  man  had 
been  found  on  the  highroad,  about  a  mile  from  the  village, 
by  labourers,  as  they  were  going  to  their  work  on  the  preced- 
ing morning,  and  the  curate  had  given  him  shelter  in  his 
house.  He  had  received  a  gun-shot  wound  which  seemed  to 
be  obviously  mortal,  but  whether  in  a  brawl  or  from  robbers 
they  could  not  learn,  as  he  was  in  a  fever,  and  spoke  nothing 


492  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

connectedly.  Wayland  entered  the  dark  and  lowly  apart- 
ment, and  no  sooner  had  the  curate  drawn  aside  the  curtain 
than  he  knew  in  the  distorted  features  of  the  patient  the 
countenance  of  Michael  Lambourne.  Under  pretence  of  seek- 
ing something  which  he  wanted,  Wayland  hastily  apprised  his 
fellow-travellers  of  this  extraodinary  circumstance ;  and  both 
Tressilian  and  Kaleigh,  full  of  boding  apprehensions,  hastened 
to  the  curate's  house  to  see  the  dying  man. 

The  wretch  was  by  this  time  in  the  agonies  of  death,  from 
which  a  much  better  surgeon  than  Wayland  could  not  have 
rescued  him,  for  the  bullet  had  passed  clear  through  his  body. 
He  was  sensible,  however,  at  least  in  part,  for  he  knew  Tres- 
silian, and  made  signs  that  he  wished  him  to  stoop  over  his 
bed.  Tressillian  did  so,  and  after  some  inarticulate  murmurs, 
in  which  the  names  of  Varney  and  Lady  Leicester  were  alone 
distinguishable,  Lambourne  bade  him  "Make  haste,  or  he 
would  come  too  late. "  It  was  in  vain  Tressilian  urged  the 
patient  for  farther  information ;  he  seemed  to  become  in  some 
degree  delirious,  and  when  he  again  made  a  signal  to  attract 
Tressilian's  attention,  it  was  only  for  the  purpose  of  desiring 
him  to  inform  his  uncle,  Giles  Gosling  of  the  Black  Bear, 
"  That  he  had  died  without  his  shoes  after  all."  A  convulsion 
verified  his  words  a  few  minutes  after,  and  the  travellers  de- 
rived nothing  from  having  met  with  him  save  the  obscure  fears 
concerning  the  fate  of  the  countess  which  his  dying  words 
were  calculated  to  convey,  and  which  induced  them  to  urge 
their  journey  with  the  utmost  speed,  pressing  horses  in  the 
Queen's  name  when  those  which  they  rode  became  unfit  for 
service. 


KENILWORTH.  493 


CHAPTER   XLI. 

The  death-bell  thrice  was  heard  to  ring, 

An  aerial  voice  was  heard  to  call ; 
And  thrice  the  raven  flapp'd  its  wing 

Around  the  towers  of  Cumnor  Hall. 

MiCKLE. 

We  are  now  to  return  to  that  part  of  our  story  where  we  in- 
timated that  Varney,  possessed  of  the  authority  of  the  Earl  of 
Leicester,  and  of  the  Queen's  permission  to  the  same  effect, 
hastened  to  secure  himself  against  discovery  of  his  perfidy  by 
removing  the  countess  from  Kenilworth  Castle.  He  had  pro- 
posed to  set  forth  early  in  the  morning ;  but  reflecting  that 
the  earl  might  relent  in  the  interim,  and  seek  another  inter- 
view with  the  countess,  he  resolved  to  prevent,  by  immediate 
departure,  all  chance  of  what  would  probably  have  ended  in 
his  detection  and  ruin.  For  this  purpose  he  called  for  Lam- 
bourne,  and  was  exceedingly  iucensed  to  find  that  his  trusty 
attendant  was  abroad  on  some  ramble  hi  the  neighbouring  vil- 
lage or  elsewhere.  As  his  return  was  expected.  Sir  Richard 
commanded  that  he  should  prepare  himself  for  attending  him 
on  an  immediate  journey,  and  follow  him  in  case  he  returned 
after  his  departure. 

In  the  mean  while,  Varney  used  the  ministry  of  a  servant 
called  Robin  Tider,  one  to  whom  the  mysteries  of  Cumnor 
Place  were  already  in  some  degree  known,  as  he  had  been 
there  more  than  once  in  attendance  on  the  earl.  To  this  man, 
whose  character  resembled  that  of  Lambourne,  though  he  was 
neither  quite  so  prompt  nor  altogether  so  profligate,  Yarney 
gave  command  to  have  three  horses  saddled  and  to  prepare  a 
horse-litter  and  have  them  in  readiness  at  the  postern  gate. 
The  natural  enough  excuse  of  his  lady's  insanity,  which  was 
now  universally  believed,  accounted  for  the  secrecy  with  which 
she  was  to  be  removed  from  the  castle,  and  he  reckoned  on 
the  same  apology  in  case  the  unfortunate  Amy's  resistance 
or  screams   should  render   such  necessary.     The   agency  of 


494  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

Anthony  Foster  was  indispensable,  and  that  Varney  now 
went  to  secure. 

This  person,  naturally  of  a  sour,  imsocial  disposition,  and 
somewhat  tired,  besides,  with  his  journey  from  Cumnor  to 
Warwickshire,  in  order  to  bruig  the  news  of  the  countess's 
escape,  had  early  extricated  himself  from  the  crowd  of  was- 
sailers,  and  betaken  himself  to  his  chamber,  where  he  lay 
asleep,  when  Varney,  completely  equipped  for  travelling,  and 
with  a  dark  lantern  in  his  hand,  entered  his  apartment.  He 
paused  an  instant  to  listen  to  what  his  associate  was  mur- 
muring in  his  sleep,  and  could  plainly  distinguish  the  words, 
"  Ave  llaria  ova  pro  nobis ;  no — it  runs  not  so.  Deliver  us 
from  evil — ay,  so  it  goes." 

"  Praying  in  his  sleep, "  said  Varney,  "  and  confounding  his 
old  and  new  devotions.  He  must  have  more  need  of  prayer 
ere  I  am  done  with  him.  What  ho !  holy  man — most  blessed 
penitent!  Awake — awake!  The  devil  has  not  discharged 
you  from  service  yet." 

As  Varney  at  the  same  time  shook  the  sleeper  by  the  arm, 
it  changed  the  current  of  his  ideas,  and  he  roared  out, 
*'  Thieves ! — thieves !  I  will  die  in  defence  of  my  gold — my 
hard-won  gold,  that  has  cost  me  so  dear.  Where  is  Janet? 
Is  Janet  safe?" 

"Safe  enough,  thou  bellowing  foal!"  said  Varney;  "art 
thou  not  ashamed  of  thy  clamour?" 

Foster  by  this  time  was  broad  awake,  and,  sitting  up  in  his 
bed,  asked  Varney  the  meaning  of  so  untimely  a  visit.  "  It 
augurs  nothing  good,"  he  added.  ' 

"A  false  prophecy,  most  sainted  Anthony,"  returned  Var- 
ney :  "  it  augurs  that  the  hour  is  come  for  converting  thy  lease- 
hold into  copyhold.     What  say'st  thou  to  that?" 

"  Hadst  thou  told  me  this  in  broad  day, "  said  Foster,  "  I 
had  rejoiced;  but  at  this  dead  hour,  and  by  this  dim  light, 
and  I  looking  on  thy  pale  face,,  which  is  a  ghastly  contradic- 
tion to  thy  light  words,  I  cannot  but  rather  think  of  the  work 
that  is  to  be  done  than  the  guerdon  to  be  gained  by  it." 

"  Why,  thou  fool,  it  is  but  to  escort  thy  charge  back  to 
Cumnor  Place." 


KENILWORTH.  495 

"Is  that  indeed  all?"  said  Foster;  "thou  look*st  deadly 
pale,  and  thou  art  not  moved  by  trifles — is  that  indeed  all?" 

"  Ay,  that — and  maybe  a  trifle  more, "  answered  Varney. 

"Ah,  that  trifle  more!"  said  Foster;  "stiU  thou  look'st 
paler  and  paler." 

"  Heed  not  my  countenjance, "  said  Varney,  "  you  see  it  by 
this  wretched  light.  Up  and  be  doing,  man.  Think  of  Cum- 
nor  Place,  thine  own  proper  copyhold.  Why,  thou  mayst 
found  a  weekly  lectureship,  besides  endowing  Janet  like  a 
baron's  daughter.     Seventy  pounds  and  odd." 

"Seventy-nine  pounds,  five  shillings,  and  fivepence  half- 
penny, besides  the  value  of  the  wood, "  said  Foster ;  "  and  I 
am  to  have  it  aU  as  copyhold?" 

"  All,  man — squirrels  and  all :  no  gipsy  shall  cut  the  value 
of  a  broom,  no  boy  so  much  as  take  a  bird's  nest  without  pay- 
ing thee  a  quittance.  Ay,  that  is  right — don  thy  matters  as 
fast  as  possible ;  horses  and  everything  are  ready,  all  save  that 
accursed  villain  Lambourne,  who  is  out  on  some  infernal 
gambol." 

"  Ay,  Sir  Richard, "  said  Foster,  "  you  would  take  no  ad- 
vice. I  ever  told  you  that  drunken  profligate  would  fail 
you  at  need.  Now,  I  could  have  helped  you  to  a  sober  young 
man." 

"What,  some  slow-spoken,  long-breathed  brother  of  the 
congregation?  ^Vhy,  we  shall  have  use  for  such  also,  man. 
Heaven  be  praised,  we  shall  lack  labourers  of  every  kind. 
Ay,  that  is  right — forget  not  your  pistols.  Come  now,  and 
let  us  away." 

"  AVliither?"  said  Anthony. 

"To  my  lady's  chamber,  and,  mind,  she  must  along  with 
us.     Thou  art  not  a  fellow  to  be  startled  by  a  shriek?" 

"  Not  if  Scripture  reason  can  be  rendered  for  it ;  and  it  is 
written,  "Wives,  obey  your  husbands."  But  wili  my  lord's 
commands  bear  us  out  if  we  use  violence?" 

"Tush,  man!  here  is  his  signet,"  answered  Varney;  and 
having  thus  silenced  the  objections  of  his  associate,  they 
went  together  to  Lord  Hunsdon's  apartments,  and,  acquaint- 
ing the  sentinel  with  their  purpose,  as  a  matter  sanctioned  by 


496  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

the  Queen  and  the  Earl  of  Leicester,  they  entered  the  chamber 
of  the  unfortunate  countess. 

The  horror  of  Amy  may  be  conceived  when,  starting  from 
a  broken  slumber,  she  saw  at  her  bedside  Varney,  the  man  on 
earth  she  most  feared  and  hated.  It  was  even  a  consolation 
to  see  that  he  was  not  alone,  though  she  had  so  much  reason 
to  dread  his  sullen  companion. 

"Madam,"  said  Varney,  "there  is  no  time  for  ceremony. 
My  Lord  of  Leicester,  having  fully  considered  the  exigencies 
of  the  time,  sends  you  his  orders  immediately  to  accompany 
us  on  our  return  to  Cumnor  Place.  See,  here  is  his  signet,  in 
token  of  his  instant  and  pressing  commands." 

"  It  is  false!"  said  the  countess ;  "  thou  hast  stolen  the  war- 
rant— thou,  who  art  capable  of  every  villainy,  from  the  black- 
est to  the  basest!" 

"  It  is  TRUE,  madam,"  replied  Varney;  "  so  true,  that  if  you 
do  not  instantly  arise  and  prepare  to  attend  us,  we  must  com- 
pel you  to  obey  our  orders." 

"  Compel !  thou  darest  not  put  it  to  that  issue,  base  as  thou 
art, "  exclaimed  the  unhappy  countess. 

"That  remains  to  be  proved,  madam,"  said  Varney,  who 
had  determined  on  intimidation  as  the  only  means  of  sub- 
duing her  high  spirit ;  "  if  you  put  me  to  it,  you  will  find  me 
a  rough  groom  of  the  chamber." 

It  was  at  this  threat  that  Amy  screamed  so  fearfuUy  that, 
had  it  not  been  for  the  received  opinion  of  her  insanity,  she 
would  quickly  have  had  Lord  Hunsdon  and  others  to  her  aid. 
Perceiving,  however,  that  her  cries  were  vain,  she  appealed 
to  Poster  in  the  most  affecting  terms,  conjuring  him,  as  his 
daughter  Janet's  honour  and  purity  was  dear  to  him,  not  to 
permit  her  to  be  treated  with  unwomanly  violence. 

"Why,  madam,  wives  must  obey  their  husbands — there's 
Scripture  warrant  for  it,"  said  Poster;  "and  if  you  will  dress 
yourself  and  come  with  us  patiently,  there's  no  one  shall  lay 
finger  on  you  while  I  can  draw  a  pistol-trigger." 

Seeing  no  help  arrive,  and  comforted  even  by  the  dogged 
language  of  Poster,  the  countess  promised  to  arise  and  dress 
herseK,  if  they  would  agree  to  retire  from  the  room.     Varney 


KENILWORTH.  497 

•at  the  same  time  assured  her  of  all  safety  and  honour  while 
in  their  hands,  and  promised  that  he  himself  would  not  ap- 
proach her,  since  his  presence  was  so  displeasing.  Her  hus- 
band, he  added,  would  be  at  Cumnor  Place  within  twenty-four 
hours  after  they  had  reached  it. 

Somewhat  comforted  by  this  assurance,  upon  which,  how- 
ever, she  saw  little  reason  to  rely,  the  unhappy  Amy  made 
her  toilette  by  the  assistance  of  the  lantern,  which  they  left 
with  her  when  they  quitted  the  apartment. 

Weeping,  trembling,  and  praying,  the  imfortunate  lady 
dressed  herself — with  sensations  how  different  from  the  days 
in  which  she  was  wont  to  decorate  herseK  in  all  the  pride  of 
conscious  beauty !  She  endeavoured|  to  delay  the  completing 
her  dress  as  long  as  she  could,  until,  terrified  by  the  impatience 
of  Varney,  she  was  obliged  to  declare  herself  ready  to  attend 
them. 

When  they  were  about  to  move,  the  countess  clung  to  Foster 
with  such  an  appearance  of  terror  at  Varney' s  approach,  that 
the  latter  protested  to  her,  with  a  deep  oath,  that  he  had  no 
intention  whatever  of  even  coming  near  her.  *'  If  you  do 
but  consent  to  execute  your  husband's  will  in  quietness, 
you  shall, "  he  said,  "  see  but  little  of  me.  I  will  leave  you 
imdisturbed  to  the  care  of  the  usher  whom  your  good  taste 
prefers." 

"My  husband's  will!"  she  exclaimed.  "But  it  is  the  will 
-of  God,  and  let  that  be  sufficient  to  me.  I  will  go  with  Mas- 
ter Foster  as  unresistingly  as  ever  did  a  literal  sacrifice.  He. 
is  a  father  at  least,  and  will  have  decency  if  not  humanity. 
For  thee,  Varney,  were  it  my  latest  word,  thou  art  an  equal 
stranger  to  both." 

Varney  replied  only,  she  was  at  liberty  to  choose,  and 
walked  some  paces  before  them  to  show  the  way ;  while,  half- 
leaning  on  Foster  and  half -carried  by  him,  the  countess  was 
transported  from  Saintlowe's  Tower  to  the  postern  gate, 
where  Tider  waited  with  the  litter  and  horses. 

The  countess  was  placed  in  the  former  without  resistance. 
She  saw  with  some  satisfaction  that,  while  Foster  and  Tider 
rode  close  by  the  litter,  which  the  latter  conducted,  the  dreaded 
32 


498  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

Varney  lingered  behind,  and  was  soon  lost  in  darkness.  A 
little  while  she  strove,  as  the  road  winded  round  the  verge  of 
the  lake,  to  keep  sight  of  those  stately  towers  which  called  her 
husband  lord,  and  which  still,  in  some  places,  sparkled  with 
lights,  where  wassailers  were  yet  revelling.  But  when  tiie 
direction  of  the  road  rendered  this  no  longer  possible,  she 
drew  back  her  head,  and,  sinking  down  in  the  litter,  recom- 
mended herself  to  the  care  of  Providence. 

Besides  the  desire  of  inducing  the  countess  to  proceed  quiet- 
ly on  her  journey,  Varney  had  it  also  in  view  to  have  an  inter- 
view with  Lambourne,  by  whom  he  every  moment  expected  to 
be  joined,  without  the  presence  of  any  witnesses.  He  knew 
the  character  of  this  man — prompt,  bloody,  resolute,  and 
greedy — and  judge  him  the  most  fit  agent  he  could  employ  in 
his  farther  designs.  But  ten  miles  of  their  journey  had  been 
measured  ere  he  heard  the  hasty  clatter  of  horse's  hoofs  behind 
him,  and  was  overtaken  by  Michael  Lambourne. 

Fretted  as  he  was  with  his  absence,  Varney  received  his 
profligate  servant  with  a  rebuke  of  unusual  bitterness. 
"Drunken  villain,"  he  said,  "thy  idleness  and  debauched 
folly  will  stretch  a  halter  ere  it  be  longj  and,  for  me,  I  care 
not  how  soon!" 

This  style  of  objurgation,  Lambourne,  who  was  elated  to 
an  unusual  degree,  not  only  by  an  extraordinary  cup  of  wiiie, 
but  by  the  sort  of  confidential  interview  he  had  just  had  with 
the  earl,  and  the  secret  of  which  he  had  made  himself  master, 
did  not  receive  with  his  wonted  humility.  "  He  would  take 
no  insolence  of  laniguage, "  he  said,  "  from  the  best  knight  that 
ever  wore  spurs.  Lord  Leicester  had  detained  him  on  some 
business  of  import,  and  that  was  enough  for  Varney,  who  was 
but  a  servant  like  himself." 

Varney  was  not  a  little  surprised  at  his  unusual  tone  of  in- 
solence, but  ascribing  it  to  liquor,  suffered  it  to  pass  as  if  un- 
noticed, and  then  began  to  tamper  with  Lambourne  touching 
his  willingness  to  aid  in  removing  out  of  the  Earl  of  Leicester's 
way  an  obstacle  to  a  rise  which  would  put  it  m  his  power  to 
reward  his  trusty  followers  to  their  utmost  wish.  And  upon 
Michael  Lambourne 's  seemmg  ignorant  what  was  meant,  he 


KENILWORTH.  499 

plainly  indicated  "  the  litter-load,  yonder; "  as  the  impediment 
which  he  desired  should  be  removed. 

"Look  you,  Sir  Kichard,  and  so  forth,"  said  Michael, 
"  some  are  wiser  than  some,  that  is  one  thiug,  and  some  are 
worse  than  some,  that's  another.  I  know  my  lord's  mind  on 
this  matter  better  than  thou,  for  he  hath  trusted  me  fully  in 
the  matter.  Here  are  his  mandates,  and  his  last  words 
were,  'Michael  Lambourne' — for  his  lordship  speaks  to  me  as 
a  gentleman  of  the  sword,  and  useth  not  the  words  'drunken 
villain, '  or  such-like  phrases  of  those  who  know  not  how  to 
bear  new  dignities — 'Varney,'  says  he,  'must  pay  the  utmost 
respect  to  my  countess.  I  trust  to  you  for  looking  to  it,  Lam- 
bourne,' says  his  lordship,  'and  you  must  bring  back  my  signet 
from  him  peremptorily. '  " 

"  Ay,"  replied  Yarney,  "  said  he  so,  indeed?  You  know  all, 
then?" 

"  All — all,  and  you  were  as  wise  to  make  a  friend  of  me 
while  the  weather  is  fair  betwixt  us." 

"  And  was  there  no  one  present,"  said  Yarney,  "when  my 
lord  so  spoke?" 

"  Not  a  breathing  creature, "  replied  Lamboui-ne.  "  Think 
you  my  lord  would  trust  any  one  with  such  matters  save  an 
approved  man  of  action  like  myself?" 

"  Most  true, "  said  Yarney ;  and,  making  a  pause,  he  looked 
forward  on  the  moonlight  road.  They  were  traversing  a  wide 
and  open  heath.  The  litter,  being  at  least  a  mile  before  them, 
was  both  out  of  sight  and  hearing.  He  looked  behind,  and 
there  was  an  expanse,  lighted  by  the  moonbeams,  without 
one  human  being  in  sight.  He  resumed  his  speech  to  Lam- 
bourne: "  And  will  you  tui-n  upon  your  master,  who  has  intro- 
duced you  to  this  career  of  court-like  favour — whose  appren- 
tice you  have  been,  Michael — who  has  taught  you  the  depths 
and  shallows  of  court  intrigue?" 

"Michael  not  me!"  said  Lambourne;  "I  have  a  name  will 
brook  a  master  before  it  as  well  as  another;  and  as  to  tlie  rest, 
if  I  have  been  an  apprentice,  my  indenture  is  out,  and  I  am 
resolute  to  set  up  for  myself." 

*'Take  thy  quittance  first,  thou  fool  I"  said  Varney;   and 


500  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

with  a  pistol  wliicli  he  had  for  some  time  held  in  his  hand, 
shot  Lambourne  through  the  body. 

The  wretch  fell  from  his  horse  without  a  single  groan ;  and 
Varney,  dismoimting,  rifled  his  pockets,  turning  out  the  lining, 
that  it  might  appear  he  had  fallen  by  robbers.  He  secured 
the  earl's  packet,  which  was  his  chief  object,  but  he  also  took 
Lambourne' s  purse,  containing  some  gold  pieces,  the  relics  of 
what  his  debauchery  had  left  him,  and,  from  a  singular  com- 
bination of  feelings,  carried  it  in  his  hand  only  the  length  of 
a  small  river  which  crossed  the  road,  into  which  he  threw  it 
as  far  as  he  coxuld  fling.  Such  are  the  strange  remnants  of 
conscience  which  remain  after  she  seems  totally  subdued,  that 
this  cruel  and  remorseless  man  would  have  felt  himself  de- 
graded had  he  pocketed  the  few  pieces  belonging  to  the  wretch 
whom  he  had  thus  ruthlessly  slain. 

The  murderer  reloaded  his  pistol,  after  cleansing  the  lock 
and  barrel  from  the  appearances  of  late  explosion,  and  rode 
calmly  after  the  litter,  satisfying  himself  that  he  had  so 
adroitly  removed  a  troublesome  witness  to  many  of  his  in- 
trigues, and  the  bearer  of  mandates  which  he  had  no  inten- 
tions to  obey,  and  which,  therefore,  he  was  desirous  it  should 
be  thought  had  never  reached  his  hand. 

The  remainder  of  the  journey  was  made  with  a  degree  of 
speed  which  showed  the  little  care  they  had  for  the  health  of 
the  unhappy  countess.  They  paused  only  at  places  where  all 
was  under  their  command,  and  where  the  tale  they  were  pre- 
pared to  tell  of  the  insane  Lady  Varney  would  have  obtained 
ready  credit  had  she  made  an  attempt  to  appeal  to  the  com- 
passion of  the  few  persons  admitted  to  see  her.  But  Amy 
saw  no  chance  of  obtaining  a  hearing  from  any  to  whom  she 
had  an  opportunity  of  addressing  herself,  and,  besides,  was 
too  terrified  for  the  presence  of  Varney  to  violate  the  implied 
condition  under  which  she  was  to  travel  free  from  his  com- 
pany. The  authority  of  Varney,  often  so  used  during  the  earl's 
private  journeys  to  Cumnor,  readily  procured  relays  of  horses 
where  wanted,  so  that  they  approached  Cumnor  Place  upon  the 
night  after  they  left  Kenilworth. 

At  this  period  of  the  journey,  Varney  came  up  to  the  rear 


KENILWORTH.  501 

of  the  litter,  as  he  had  done  before  repeatedly  during  their 
progress,  and  asked,  "What  does  she?" 

"  She  sleeps, "  said  Foster.  "  I  would  we  were  home ;  her 
strength  is  exhausted." 

"  Best  wiU  restore  her, "  anwsered  Varney .  "  She  shall  soon 
sleep  sound  and  long ;  we  must  consider  how  to  lodge  her  in 
safety. " 

"  In  her  own  apartments,  to  be  sure, "  said  Foster.  "  I  have 
sent  Janet  to  her  aimts,  with  a  proper  rebuke,  and  the  old 
women  are  truth  itself,  for  they  hate  this  lady  cordially." 

"  We  will  not  trust  them,  however,  friend  Anthony, "  said 
Varney ;  "  we  must  secure  her  in  that  stronghold  where  you 
keep  your  gold." 

"My  gold!"  said  Anthony,  much  alarmed;  "why,  what 
gold  have  I?     God  help  me,  I  have  no  gold — I  would  I  had." 

"  Now,  marry  hang  thee,  thou  stupid  brute,  who  thinks  of, 
or  cares  for,  thy  gold?  If  I  did,  could  I  not  find  an  hundred 
better  ways  to  come  at  it?  In  one  word,  thy  bedchamber, 
which  they  hast  fenced  so  curiously,  must  be  her  place  of  seclu- 
sion ;  and  thou,  thou  hind,  shalt  press  her  pillows  of  down. 
I  dare  to  say  the  earl  will  never  ask  after  the  rich  furniture 
of  these  four  rooms." 

This  last  consideration  rendered  Foster  tractable ;  he  only 
asked  permission  to  ride  before,  to  make  matters  ready,  and, 
spurring  his  horse,  he  posted  before  the  litter,  while,  Varney 
falling  about  threescore  paces  behind  it,  it  remained  only 
attended  by  Tider. 

When  they  had  arrived  at  Cumnor  Place,  the  countess  asked 
eagerly  for  Janet,  and  showed  much  alarm  when  informed  that 
she  was  no  longer  to  have  the  attendance  of  that  amiable  girl. 

"  My  daughter  is  dear  to  me,  madam, "  said  Foster,  gruffly ; 
"  and  I  desire  not  that  she  should  get  the  court  tricks  of  lying 
and  'scaping;  somewhat  too  much  of  that  has  she  learned  al- 
ready, an  it  please  your  ladyship." 

The  countess,  much  fatigued  and  greatly  terrified  by  the 
circumstances  of  her  journey,  made  no  answer  to  this  insolence, 
but  mildly  expressed  a  wish  to  retire  to  her  chamber. 

"  Ay — ay, "  muttered  Foster,  "  'tis  but  reasonable,  but  under 


502  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

favour,  you  go  not  to  your  gew-gaw  toy-house  yonder ;  you  will 
sleep  to-uight  in  better  security." 

"I  would  it  were  in  my  grave,"  said  the  countess,  "but 
that  mortal  feelings  shiver  at  the  idea  of  soul  and  body 
parting." 

"You,  I  guess,  have  no  chance  to  shiver  at  that,"  replied 
Foster.  "  My  lord  comes  hither  to-morrow,  and  doubtless  you 
will  make  your  own  ways  good  with  him." 

"But  does  he  come  hither? — does  he  iadeed,  good 
Foster?" 

"  Oh  ay,  good  Foster !"  replied  the  other.  "  But  what  Foster 
shall  I  be  to-morrow,  when  you  speak  of  me  to  my  lord ;  though 
all  I  have  done  was  to  obey  his  own  orders?" 

"  You  shall  be  my  protector — a  rough  one  indeed,  but  still  a 
protector,"  answered  the  countess,  "  Oh,  that  Janet  were  but 
here!" 

"  She  is  better  where  she  is, "  answered  Foster,  "  one  of  you 
is  enough  to  perplex  a  plain  head;  but  will  you  taste  any 
refreshment?" 

"Oh  no — no;  my  chamber — my  chamber.  I  trust,"  she 
said,  apprehensively,  "I  may  secure  it  on  the  inside?" 

"  With  all  my  heart, "  answered  Foster,  "  so  I  may  secure 
it  on  the  outside ;"  and  taking  a  light,  he  led  the  way  to  a 
part  of  the  building  where  Amy  had  never  been,  and  con- 
ducted her  up  a  stair  of  great  height,  preceded  by  one  of  the 
old  women  with  a  lamjD,  At  the  head  of  the  stair,  which 
seemed  of  almost  immeasurable  height,  they  crossed  a  short 
wooden  gallery,  formed  of  black  oak,  and  very  narrow,  at  the 
farther  end  of  which  was  a  strong  oaken  door,  which  opened 
and  admitted  them  into  the  miser's  apartment,  homely  in  its 
accommodations  in  the  very  last  degree,  and,  except  in  name, 
little  diif erent  from  a  prison  room. 

Foster  stopped  at  the  door  and  gave  the  lamp  to  the  coun- 
tess, without  either  offering  or  permitting  the  attendance  of 
the  old  woman  who  had  carried  it.  The  lady  stood  not  on 
ceremony,  but  taking  it  hastily,  barred  the  door,  and  secured 
it  with  the  ample  means  provided  on  the  inside  for  that 
purpose. 


KENILWORTH.  503 

Varney,  meanwhile,  had  lurked  behind  on  the  stairs,  but 
hearing  the  door  barred,  he  now  came  up  on  tiptoe,  and  Fos- 
ter, winking  to  him,  pointed  with  self-complacence  to  a  piece 
of  concealed  machinery  in  the  wall,  which,  playing  with  much 
ease  and  little  noise,  dropped  a  part  of  the  wooden  gallery, 
after  the  manner  of  a  drawbridge,  so  as  to  cut  off  all  communi- 
cation between  the  deor  of  the  bedroom,  which  he  usually  in- 
habited, and  the  landing-place  of  the  high  winding  stair  which 
ascended  to  it.  The  rope  by  which  this  machinery  was 
wrought  was  generally  carried  within  the  bedchamber,  it 
being  Foster's  object  to  provide  against  invasion  from  without; 
but  now  that  it  was  intended  to  secure  the  prisoner  within, 
the  cord  had  been  brought  over  to  the  landing-place,  and  was 
there  made  fast,  when  Foster,  with  much  complacency,  had 
dropped  the  unsuspected  trap-door. 

Varney  looked  with  great  attention  at  the  machiBery,  and 
peeped  more  than  once  down  the  abyss  which  was  opened  by 
the  fall  of  the  trap-door.  It  was  dark  as  pitch,  and  seemed 
profoundly  deep,  going,  as  Foster  informed  his  confederate  m 
a  whisper,  nigh  to  the  lowest  vault  of  the  castle.  Varney  cast 
once  more  a  fixed  and  long  look  dojwn  into  this  sable  gulf,  and 
then  followed  Foster  to  the  part  of  the  manoj-house  most 
usually  inhabited. 

When  they  arrived  in  the  parlour  which  we  have  mentioned, 
Varney  requested  Foster  to  get  them  supper  and  some  of  the» 
choicest  wine.  "I  will  seek  Alasco,"  he  added;  "we  hav^ 
work  for  him  to  do,  and  we  must  put  him  in  good  heart. " 

Foster  groaned  at  this  intimation,  but  made  no  remonstrance. 
The  old  woman  assured  Varney  that  Alasco  had  scarce  eatert 
or  drunken  since  her  master's  departure,  living  perpetually 
shut  up  in  the  laboratory,  and  talking  as  if  the  world's  con- 
tinuance depended  on  what  he  was  doing  there. 

"  I  will  teach  him  that  the  world  hath  other  claims  on  him. '' 
said  Varney,  seizing  a  light  and  going  in  quest  of  the  alcht- 
mist.  He  returned,  after  a  considerable  absence,  very  pale, 
but  yet  \vith  his  habitual  sneer  on  his  cheek  and  nostril. 
"  Our  friend, "  he  said,  "  has  exhaled. " 

"Howl  what  mean  you?"  said  Foster.     "Kun  away — fled 


504  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

with  my  forty  ijoimds,  that  should  have  been  multiplied  a 
thousandfold?     I  will  have  hue  and  cry!" 

''  I  will  tell  thee  a  surer  way, "  said  Varney. 

"How!  which  way?"  exclaimed  Foster.  "  I  will  have  back 
my  forty  pounds — I  deemed  them  as  surely  a  thousand  times 
multiplied — I  will  have  back  my  in-put,  at  the  least." 

"  Go  hang  thyself,  then,  and  sue  Alasco  in  the  Devil's  Court 
of  Chancery,  for  thither  he  has  carried  the  cause." 

"How!  what  dost  thou  mean — is  he  dead?" 

"Ay,  truly  is  he,"  said  Varney;  "  and  properly  swoln  al- 
ready in  the  face  and  body.  He  had  been  mixing  some  of 
his  devil's  medicines,  and  the  glass  mask  which  he  used  con- 
stantly had  fallen  from  his  face,  so  that  the  subtle  poison 
entered  the  brain  and  did  its  work." 

"  Sancta  Maria  !  "  said  Foster — "  I  mean,  God  in  His  mer- 
cy preserve  us  from  covetousness  and  deadly  sin !  Had  he 
not  had  projection,  think  you?  Saw  you  no  ingots  in  the 
crucibles?" 

"  Nay,  I  looked  not  but  at  the  dead  carrion, "  answered  Var- 
ney— "  an  ugly  spectacle :  he  was  swoln  like  a  corpse  three 
days  exposed  on  the  wheel.     Pah!  give  me  a  cup  of  wine." 

"  I  will  go, "  said  Foster,  "  I  will  examine  myself "     He 

took  the  lamp  and  hastened  to  the  door,  but  there  hesitated 
and  paused.     "  Will  you  not  go  with  me?"  said  he  to  Varney. 

"  To  what  purpose?"  said  Varney ;  "  I  have  seen  and  smeUed 
enough  to  spoil  my  appetite.  I  broke  the  window,  however, 
and  let  in  the  air ;  it  reeked  of  sulphur  and  such -like  suffo- 
cating steams,  as  if  the  very  devil  had  been  there." 

"  And  might  it  not  be  the  act  of  the  demon  himself?"  said 
Foster,  still  hesitating ;  "  I  have  heard  he  is  powerful  at  such 
times,  and  with  such  people. " 

"Still,  if  it  were  that  Satan  of  thine,"  answered  Varney, 
"who  thus  jades  thy  imagination,  thou  art  in  perfect  safety, 
unless  he  is  a  most  unconscionable  devil  indeed.  He  hath 
had  two  good  sops  of  late." 

"How,  two  sops — what  mean  you?"  said  Foster — "what 
mean  you?" 

"  You  wiU  know  in  time, "  said  Varney.     "  And  then  this 


KENILWORTH.  505 

other  banquet;  but  thou  wilt  esteem  her  too  choice  a  morsel 
for  the  fiend's  tooth-;  she  must  have  her  psahns,  and  harps, 
and  seraphs." 

Anthony  Foster  heard,  and  came  slowly  back  to  the  table : 
"God!  Sir  Eichard,  and  must  that  then  be  done?" 

"Ay,  in  very  truth,  Anthony,  or  there  comes  no  copyhold 
in  thy  way, "  replied  his  inflexible  associate. 

" I  always  foresaw  it  would  land  there!"  said  Foster;  "but 
how.  Sir  Kichard — how?  for  not  to  win  the  world  would  I 
put  hands  on  her. " 

"  I  cannot  blame  thee, "  said  Varney :  "  I  should  be  reluctant 
to  do  that  myself;  we  miss  Alasco  and  his  manna  sorely — ay, 
and  the  dog  Lambourne. " 

"Why,  where  tarries  Lambourne?"  said  Anthony. 

"  Ask  no  questions, "  said  Varney,  "  thou  wilt  see  him  one 
day,  if  thy  creed  is  true.  But  to  our  graver  matter^  I  will 
teach  thee  a  springe,  Tony,  to  catch  a  pewit;  yonder  trap- 
door— yonder  gimcrack  of  thine,  will  remain  secure  in  appear- 
ance, will  it  not,  though  the  supports  are  withdrawn  beneath?" 

"  Ay,  marry,  will  it, "  said  Foster ;  "  so  long  as  it  is  not 
trodden  on." 

"  But  were  the  lady  to  attempt  an  escape  over  it, "  replied 
Varney,  "her  weight  would  carry  it  down?" 

"A  mouse's  weight  would  do  it,"  said  Foster. 

"  Why,  then,  she  dies  in  attempting  her  escape,  and  what 
could  you  or  I  help  it,  honest  Tony?  Let  us  to  bed;  we  will 
adjust  our  project  to-morrow." 

On  the  next  day,  when  evening  approached,  Varney  sum- 
moned Foster  to  the  execution  of  their  plan.  Tider  and  Fos- 
ter's old  man-servant  were  sent  on  a  feigned  errand  down  to 
the  village,  and  Anthony  himself,  as  if  anxious  to  see  that  the 
countess  suffered  no  want  of  accommodation,  visited  her  place 
of  confinement.  He  was  so  much  staggered  at  the  mildness 
and  patience  with  which  she  seemed  to  endure  her  confinement 
that  he  could  not  help  earnestly  recommending  to  her  not  to 
cross  the  threshold  of  her  room  on  any  account  whatever  until 
Lord  Leicester  should  come,  "  Which, "  he  added,  "  I  trust  in 
God,  will  be  very  soon."     Amy  patiently  promised  that  she 


506  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

would  resign  herself  to  her  fate,  and  Foster  returned  to  his 
hardened  companion  with  his  conscience  half -eased  of  the 
perilous  load  that  weighed  on  it.  *'  I  have  warned  her, "  he 
said;  "surely  in  vain  is  the  snare  set  in  the  sight  of  any 
bird!" 

He  left,  therefore,  the  countess's  door  unsecured  on  the 
outside,  and,  under  the  eye  of  Varney,  withdrew  the  supports 
which  sustained  the  falling  trap,  which,  therefore,  kept  its 
level  position  merely  by  a  slight  adhesion.  They  withdrew 
to  wait  the  issue  on  the  ground-floor  adjoining,  but  they 
waited  long  in  vain.  At  length  Varney,  after  walking  long 
to  and  fro,  with  his  face  muffled  in  his  cloak,  threw  it  sudden- 
ly back,  and  exclaimed,  "  Surely  never  was  a  woman  fool 
enough  to  neglect  so  fair  an  opportunity  of  escape!" 

"Perhaps  she  is  resolved,"  said  Foster,  "to  await  her  hus- 
band's return." 

"True! — most  true,"  said  Varney,  rushing  out,  "I  had  Hot 
thought  of  that  before." 

In  less  than  two  minutes  Foster,  who  remained  behind, 
heard  the  tread  of  a  horse  in  the  courtyard,  and  then  a  whistle 
similar  to  that  which  was  the  earl's  usual  signal;  the  instant 
after  the  door  of  the  countess's  chamber  opened,  and  in  the 
same  moment  the  trap-door  gave  way.  There  was  a  rushing 
sound — a  heavy  fall — a  faint  groan — and  all  was  over. 

At  the  same  instant,  Varney  called  in  at  the  window,  in  an 
accent  and  tone  which  was  an  indescribable  mixture  betwixt 
horror  and  raillery:  "Is  the  bird  caught? — is  the  deed 
done?" 

"  0  God,  forgive  us !"  replied  Anthony  Foster. 

"Why,  thou  fool,"  said  Varney,  "thy  toil  is  ended,  and 
thy  reward  secure.  Look  down  into  the  vault — what  seest 
thou?" 

"  I  see  only  a  heap  of  white  clothes,  like  a  snowdrift,"  said 
Foster.     "0  God,  she  moves  her  arm!" 

"  Hurl  something  down  on  her — thy  gold  chest,  Tony — it  is 
an  heavy  one." 

"Varney,  thou  art  an  incarnate  fiend!"  replied  Foster, 
**  There  needs  nothing  more — she  is  gone!" 


KENILWORTH.  607 

"  So  pass  our  troubles, "  said  Yai-ney,  entering  the  room. 
**  I  dreamed  not  I  could  have  mimicked  the  earl's  call  so  well." 

"  Oh,  if  there  be  judgment  in  Heaven,  thou  hast  deserved 
it, "  said  Foster,  "  and  wilt  meet  it !  Thou  hast  destroyed  her 
by  means  of  her  best  affections.  It  is  a  seething  of  the  kid 
in  the  mother's  milk!" 

"  Thou  art  a  fanatical  ass, "  replied  Varney .  "  Let  us  now 
think  how  the  alarm  should  be  given ;  the  body  is  to  remain 
where  it  is." 

But  their  wickedness  was  to  be  permitted  no  longer;  for, 
even  while  they  were  at  this  consultation,  Tressilian  and 
Raleigh  broke  in  upon  them,  having  obtained  admittance  by 
means  of  Tider  and  Foster's  servant,  whom  they  had  secured 
at  the  village. 

Anthony  Foster  fled  on  their  entrance;  and,  knowing  each 
corner  and  pass  of  the  intricate  old  house,  escaped  all  search. 
But  Varney  was  taken  on  the  spot ;  and,  instead  of  expressing 
compunction  for  what  he  had  done,  seemed  to  take  a  fiendish 
pleasure  in  pointing  out  to  them  the  remains  of  the  murdered 
countess,  while  at  the  same  time  he  defied  them  to  show  that 
he  had  any  share  in  her  death.  The  despairing  grief  of  Tres- 
silian on  viewing  the  mangled  and  yet  warm  remains  of  what 
had  lately  been  so  lovely  and  so  beloved,  was  such  that 
Raleigh  was  compelled  to  have  him  removed  from  the  place 
by  force,  while  he  himself  assumed  the  direction  of  what  was 
to  be  done. 

Varney,  upon  a  second  examination,  made  very  little  mys- 
tery either  of  the  crime  or  of  its  motives ;  alleging,  as  a  reason 
for  his  frankness,  that  though  much  of  what  he  confessed 
could  only  have  attached  to  him  by  suspicion,  yet  such  sus- 
picion would  have  been  sufficient  to  deprive  him  of  Leicester's 
confidence,  and  to  destroy  all  his  towering  plans  of  ambition. 
"I  was  not  bora,"  he  said,  "to  drag  on  the  remainder  of  life 
a  degraded  outcast;  nor  will  I  so  die  that  my  fate  shall  make 
a  holiday  to  the  vulgar  herd." 

From  these  words  it  was  appreJiended  he  had  some  design 
upon  himself,  and  he  was  carefully  deprived  of  all  means  by 
which  such  could  be  carried  into  execution.     But,  like  some 


508  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

of  the  heroes  of  antiquity,  he  carried  about  his  person  a  small 
quantity  of  strong  poison,  prepared  probably  by  the  celebrated 
Demetrius  Alasco.  Having  swallowed  this  potion  over-night, 
he  was  found  next  morning  dead  in  his  cell ;  nor  did  he  appear 
to  have  suffered  much  agony,  his  countenance  presenting,  even 
in  death,  the  habitual  expression  of  sneering  sarcasm,  which 
was  predominant  while  he  lived.  "  The  wicked  man, "  saith 
Scripture,  "  hath  no  bonds  in  his  death. " 

The  fate  of  his  colleague  in  wickedness  was  long  unknown. 
Cumnor  Place  was  deserted  immediately  after  the  murder; 
for,  in  the  vicinity  of  what  was  called  the  Lady  Dudley's 
chamber  the  domestics  pretended  to  hear  groans,  and  screams, 
and  other  supernatural  noises.  After  a  certain  length  of 
time,  Janet,  hearing  no  tidings  of  her  father,  became  the  un- 
controlled mistress  of  his  property,  and  conferred  it  with  her 
hand  upon  Wayland,  now  a  man  of  settled  character,  and 
holding  a  place  in  Elizabeth's  household.  But  it  was  after 
they  had  been  both  dead  for  some  years,  that  their  eldest  son 
and  heir,  in  making  some  researches  about  Cumnor  Hall,  dis- 
covered a  secret  passage,  closed  by  an  iron  door,  which,  open- 
ing from  behind  the  bed  in  the  Lady  Dudley's  chamber,  de- 
scended to  a  sort  of  cell,  in  which  they  found  an  iron  chest 
containing  a  quantity  of  gold,  and  a  human  skeleton  stretched 
above  it.  The  fate  of  Anthony  Foster  was  now  manifest.  He 
had  fled  to  this  place  of  concealment,  forgetting  the  key  of  the 
spring-lock ;  and  being  barred  from  escape  by  the  means  he 
had  used  for  preservation  of  that  gold  for  which  he  had  sold 
his  salvation,  he  had  there  perished  miserably.  L^nquestion- 
ably  the  groans  and  screams  heard  by  the  domestics  were  not 
entirely  imaginary,  but  were  those  of  this  wretch,  who,  in  his 
agony,  was  crying  for  relief  and  succour. 

The  news  of  the  countess's  dreadful  fate  put  a  sudden  period 
to  the  pleasures  of  Kenilworth.  Leicester  retired  from  court, 
and  for  a  considerable  time  abandoned  himself  to  his  remorse. 
But  as  Varney,  in  his  last  declaration,  had  been  studious  to 
spare  the  character  of  his  patron,  the  earl  was  the  object  rather 
of  compassion  than  resentment.  The  Queen  at  length  recalled 
him  to  court;  he  was  once  more  distinguished  as  a  statesman 


KENILWORTH.  509 

and  favourite,  and  the  rest  of  his  career  is  well  known  to 
history.  But  there  was  something  retributive  in  his  death, 
if,  according  to  an  account  very  generally  received,  it  took 
place  from  his  swallowing  a  draught  of  poison  which  was 
designed  by  him  for  another  person.' 

Sir  Hugh  Robsart  died  very  soon  after  his  daughter,  having 
settled  his  estate  on  Tressilian.  But  neither  the  prospect  of 
rural  independence  nor  the  promises  of  favour  which  Elizabeth 
held  out  to  induce  him  to  follow  the  court,  could  remove  his 
profound  melancholy.  Wherever  he  went,  he  seemed  to  see 
before  him  the  disfigured  corpse  of  the  early  and  only  object 
of  his  aifection.  At  length,  having  made  provision  for  the 
maintenance  of  the  old  friends  and  old  servants  who  formed 
Sir  Hugh's  family  at  Lidcote  Hall,  he  himself  embarked  with 
his  friend  Raleigh  for  the  Virginia  expedition,  and,  young  in 
years  but  old  in  grief,  died  before  his  day  in  that  foreign  land. 

Of  inferior  persons  it  is  only  necessary  to  say,  that  Blount's 
wit  grew  brighter  as  his  yellow  roses  faded:  that,  doing  his 
part  as  a  brave  commander  in  the  wars,  he  was  much  more  in 
his  element  than  during  the  short  period  of  his  following  the 
court;  and  that  Flibbertigibbet's  acute  genius  raised  him  to 
favour  and  distinction  in  the  employment  both,  of  Burleigh 
and  Cecil. 

>  S«e  Death  of  Earl  of  Leicester.    Note  20. 


NOTES  TO  KENILWORTH. 


Note  1. — Cumnob  Hall,  p.  8. 

In  a  valuable  work,  by  Mr,  Adlard,  on  Amy  Rohsart,  the  Earl  ofleiceittr 
and  Kenilworth,  8vo,  London,  1870,  the  author  says  [pp.  2i,  25]  that  Cunni». 
Place  was  originally  one  of  the  country  seats  of  the  abbots  of  Abingdon, 
and  that,  on  the  dissolution  of  the  monasteries,  it  was  granted  by  Henry 
VIII.  to  his  physician,  George  Owen.  At  Owen's  death  in  1561,  it  was 
bought  by  Anthony  Forster,  and  was  occupied  by  him  for  several  years ; 
and  at  his  demise  it  passed  into  the  hands  of  the  Earl  of  Leicester.  The 
Place  ultimately  became  the  property  of  Lord  Abingdon. 

"For  a  long  period,"  says  Mr.  Adlard,  "Cumnor  was  deserted;  the 
recollection  of  Amy  Dudley's  melancholy  end  was  revived  amongst  the 
ignorant  villagers,  whose  imaginations  conjured  up  forms  and  horrors  be- 
fore unheard  of.  and  hence  arose  the  legendary  tales  that  have  descended 
to  the  present  day.  Decay  followed  fast  on  desertion,  and,  with  the  aid  of 
the  wanton  and  mischievous,  before  a  century  had  rolled  away  it  had  be- 
come almost  a  ruin.  ... 

"A  few  fine  elms  scattered  here  and  there  are  all  that  Is  left  to  aid  in 
realizing  the  former  picturesque  appearance  of  this  retreat,  where  we  are 
privileged  to  sympathise  with  suffering  innocence  and  blighted  affection." 

The  ballad  of  "Cumnor  Hall,"  as  stated  in  the  Introduction,  appeared, 
"now  first  printed,"  in  Evans's  Collection  of  Old  Ballads,  vol,  iv.  p.  130, 
1784 ;  and  in  the  new  edition  (the  editor  discarding  the  antique  mode  of 
spelling),  vol.  iv.  p.  94,  1810.  In  this  form  it  is  given  above.  The  author, 
William  Julius  Mickle,  was  a  son  of  the  minister  of  Langholm,  in  Dum- 
friesshire, where  he  was  born  in  1734,  and  died  at  London  in  1788.  He  is 
now  chiefly  known  by  his  translation  from  Camoens  of  the  Lusiad  {Laing). 

Note  2.— Fostee,  Lamboubne,  and  the  Black  Beas,  p.  4G. 

If  faith  is  to  be  put  in  epitaphs,  Anthony  Forster  was  something  the  very 
reverse  of  the  character  represented  in  the  novel.  Ashmole  gives  this  de- 
scription of  his  tomb — I  copy  from  the  Antiquities  of  Berkshire,  vol.  i. 
p,  143. 

"  In  the  north  wall  of  the  chancel  [at  Cumnor  Church]  is  a  monument 
of  grey  marble,  whereon,  in  crass  plates,  are  engraved  a  man  in  armour, 
and  his  wife  in  the  habit  of  her  times,  both  kneeling  before  a  fald-stoole, 
together  with  the  figures  of  three  sons  kneeling  behind  their  mother.  Un- 
der the  figure  of  the  man  is  this  inscription : 

Antonius  Forster,  generis  generosa  propago. 
Cumnerse  Domiuus  Bercheriensis  erat. 


512  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

Armiger,  Armigero  prognatus  patre  Ricardo, 

Qui  quondam  Iphletbaj  Salopiensis  erat. 
Quatuor  ex  isto  fluxerunt  stemmate  nati, 

Ex  isto  Antonius  stemmate  quartus  erat. 

Mente  sagax,  animo  precellens,  corjKjre  promptua, 

Eloquii  dulcis,  ore  disertus  erat. 
In  factis  probitas,  fuit  in  sermone  venustas, 

In  vultu  gravitas,  relligione  fides, 
In  patriam  pietas,  in  egenos  grata  voluntas, 

Accedunt  reliquis  annumeranda  bonis. 
Si  quod  cuncta  rapit,  rapuit  non  omnia  Lethum, 

Si  quod  Mors  rapuit,  vivida  fama  dedit. 

**  These  verses  following  are  writ  at  length,  two  by  two,  in  praise  of  himr 

Argute  resonas  Cithare  pretendere  chordas 

Novit,  et  Aonia  concrepuisse  Lyra. 
Gaudebat  terre  teneras  defigere  plantas ; 

Et  mira  pulchras  construere  arte  domos, 
Composita  varias  lingua  formare  loquelas 

Doctus,  et  edocta  scribere  multa  manu. 

"  The  arms  over  it  thus  : 

Ouart  I    ^-  ^  Hunter^s  horns  stringed. 

^        "  ( II.  3  Pinions  with  their  points  upwards. 

"  The  crest  is  a  stag  couchant,  vulnerated  through  the  neck  by  a  broad 
arrow  ;  on  his  side  is  a  martlett  for  a  difference." 

From  this  monumental  inscription  it  appears  that  Anthony  Forster,  in- 
stead of  being  a  vulgar,  low-bred,  Puritanical  churl,  was  in  fact  a  gentle- 
man of  birth  and  consideration,  distinguished  for  his  skill  in  the  arts  of 
music  and  horticulture,  as  also  in  languages.  In  so  far,  therefoi'e,  the 
Anthony  Foster  of  the  romance  has  nothing  but  the  name  in  common 
with  the  real  individual,  But,  notwithstanding  the  charity,  benevolence, 
and  religious  faith  imputed  by  the  monument  of  grey  marble  to  its  tenant, 
tradition,  as  well  as  secret  history,  name  him  as  the  active  agent  in  the 
death  of  the  countess;  and  it  is  added,  that  from  being  a  jovial  and  con- 
vivial gallant,  as  we  may  infer  from  acme  expressions  in  the  epitaph,  h« 
sunk,  after  the  fatal  deed,  into  a  man  of  gloomy  and  retired  habits,  whosu 
looks  and  manners  indicated  that  he  suffered  under  the  pressure  of  som* 
atrocious  secret. 

The  name  of  Lambourne  is  still  known  in  the  vicinity,  and  it  is  said 
some  of  the  clan  partake  the  habits,  as  well  as  name,  of  the  Michael  Lam- 
bourne of  the  romance.  A  man  of  this  name  lately  murdered  his  wife, 
outdoing  Michael  in  this  respect,  who  only  was  concerned  in  the  murder 
of  the  wife  of  another  man. 

I  have  only  to  add,  that  the  jolly  Black  Bear  has  been  restored  to  his 
predominance  over  bowl  and  bottle,  in  the  village  of  Cumnor. 

Note  3. — Martin  Swakt,  p.  114. 

The  first  verse  or  something  similar,  occurs  in  a  long  ballad,  or  poem,  on 
Flodden  Field,  reprinted  by  the  late  Henry  Weber. — 
See  "Weber's Notes  in  the  above  volume,  p.  182  {Laing). 


NOTES.  513 

The  second  verse,  from  an  old  song,  actually  occurs  in  an  old  play,  where 
the  singer  boasts — 

Courteously  I  can  both  counter  and  knack 
Of  Martin  Swart  and  all  his  merry-men. 

Note  4. — Legend  of  Wayland  Smith,  p.  171. 

The  great  defeat  given  by  Alfred  to  the  Danish  invaders  is  said,  by  Mr- 
Gough,  to  have  taken  place  near  Ashdown,  in  Berkshire.  "The  burial- 
place  of  Bacseg,  the  Danish  chief,  who  was  slain  in  this  fight,  is  distin- 
guished by  a  parcel  of  stones,  less  than  a  mile  from  the  hill,  set  on  edge, 
inclosing  a  piece  of  ground  somewhat  raised.  On  the  east  side  of  the 
southern  extremity  stand  three  squarish  flat  stones,  of  about  four  or  five 
feet  over  either  way,  supporting  a  fourth  .  .  .  and  now  called  by  the  vul- 
gar Wayland  Smith,  from  an  idle  tradition  about  an  invisible  smith  replac- 
ing lost  horse-shoes  here." — Gough's  Edition  of  Camden's  Britannia,  vol. 
i.,  p.  221. 

The  popular  belief  still  retains  memory  of  this  wild  legend,  which,  con- 
nected as  it  is  with  the  site  of  a  Danish  sepulchre,  may  have  arisen  from 
some  legend  concerning  the  northern  Duergar,  who  resided  in  the  rocks, 
and  were  cunning  workers  in  steel  and  iron.  It  was  believed  that  Way- 
land  Smith's  fee  was  sixpence,  and  that,  unlike  other  workmen,  he  was 
offended  if  more  was  offered.  Of  late  his  offices  have  again  been  calle<l  to 
memory :  but  fiction  has  in  this,  as  in  other  cases,  taken  the  liberty  to 
pillage  the  stores  of  oral  tradition.  This  monument  must  be  very  ancient, 
for  it  has  been  kindly  pointed  out  to  me  that  it  is  referred  to  in  an  ancient 
Saxon  charter  as  a  landmark.  The  monument  has  been  of  late  cleared 
out,  and  made  considerably  more  conspicuous. — 

The  Vale  of  the  Whitehorse  derives  its  name  from  the  figure  of  a  horse 
■which  has  been  described  on  the  hillside  at  this  place,  the  turf  having 
been  removed  from  the  chalky  soil  in  such  a  way  as  to  show  at  a  distance 
the  form  of  a  white  horse.  This  figure  is  supposed  to  have  been  cut  out 
during  the  Saxon  period  to  celebrate  some  victory.  On  certain  occasions 
the  white  horse  is  "scoured  "  or  repaired  by  the  peasantry  of  the  neigh- 
bourhood, who  turn  out  in  large  numbers  and  remove  any  turf  that  may 
have  settled  itself  on  the  figure  of  the  horse  {Laing). 

Note  5.— Orvietan,  p.  177. 

Orvietan,  or  Venice  treacle,  as  it  was  sometimes  called,  was  understood 
to  be  a  sovereign  remedy  against  poison  ;  and  the  reader  must  be  contented, 
for  the  time  he  peruses  these  pages,  to  hold  the  same  opinion,  which  was 
once  universally  received  by  the  learned  as  well  as  the  vulgar. 

Note  6. — Leicestek  akd  Sussex,  p.  180. 

Naunton  gives  us  numerous  and  curious  particulars  of  the  jealous  strug- 
gle which  took  place  between  Ratcliffe  Earl  of  Sussex  and  the  rising  fa- 
Tourite  Leicester.  The  former,  when  on  his  death-bed,  predicted  to  his  fol- 
lowers that,  after  his  death,  the  gipsy  (so  he  called  Leicester,  from  his 
dark  complexion)  would  prove  too  many  for  them. 

Note  7. — Sib  Walter  Raleigh,  p.  183. 

Among  the  attendants  and  adherents  of  Sussex,  we  have  ventured  to 
introduce  the  celebrated  Ealeigh,  in  the  dawn  of  his  court  favour. 

33 


514  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

In  Aubrey's  Correspondence  there  are  some  curious  particulars  of  Sir 
Walter  Raleigh.  "  He  was  a  tall,  handsome  and  bold  man  ;  but  his  nceve- 
was  that  he  was  danmably  proud.  Old  Sir  Robert  Harley  of  Brampton 
Brian  Castle,  who  knew  him,  would  say,  'twas  a  great  question  who  was 
the  proudest,  Sir  Walter  or  Sir  Thomas  Overbury;  but  the  difference  that 
was  was  judged  on  Sir  Thomas's  side.  ...  In  the  great  parlour  at  Down- 
ton,  at  Mr.  Raleigh's,  is  a  good  piece,  an  original  of  Sir  Walter,  in  a  white 
satin  doublet,  all  embroidered  with  rich  pearls,  and  a  mighty  rich  chain  of 
great  pearls  about  his  neck.  The  old  servants  have  told  me  that  the  [real] 
pearls  were  near  as  big  as  the  painted  ones.  He  had  a  most  remarkable 
aspect,  an  exceeding  high  forehead,  long-faced,  and  sour-eyelidded.  A 
rebus  is  added,  to  this  purpose : 

"  The  enemy  to  the  stomach,  and  the  words  of  disgrace. 
Is  the  name  of  the  gentleman  with  a  bold  face." 

Sir  Walter  Raleigh's  beard  turned  up  naturally,  which  gave  him  an  ad- 
vantage over  the  gallants  of  the  time,  whose  mustachios  received  a  touch 
of  the  barber's  art  to  give  them  the  air  then  most  admired.— See  vol.  ii. 
part  ii.  pp.  509-512  [ed.  1813]. 

Note  8.— Court  Favour  of  Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  p.  198. 

The  gallant  incident  of  the  cloak  is  the  traditional  account  of  this  cele- 
brated statesman's  rise  at  court.  None  of  Elizabeth's  courtiers  knew  better 
than  he  how  to  make  his  court  to  her  personal  vanity,  or  could  more  justly 
estimate  the  quantity  of  flattery  which  she  could  condescend  to  swaUow. 
Being  confined  in  the  Tower  for  some  offence,  and  understanding  the 
Queen  was  about  to  pass  to  Greenwich  in  her  barge,  he  insisted  on  ap- 
proaching the  window,  that  he  might  see,  at  whatever  distance,  the  queen 
of  his  affections,  the  most  beautiful  object  which  the  earth  bore  on  its  sur- 
face. The  lieutenant  of  the  Tower  (his  own  particular  friend)  threw  him- 
self between  his  prisoner  and  the  window ;  while  Sir  Walter,  apparently 
inflained  with  a  fit  of  unrestrainable  passion,  swore  he  would  not  be  de- 
barred from  seeing  his  light,  his  life,  his  goddess  !  A  scuffle  ensued,  got  up 
for  effect's  sake,  in  which  the  lieutenant  and  his  captive  grappled  and 
struggled  with  fury,  tore  each  other's  hair,  and  at  length  drew  daggers, 
and  were  only  separated  by  force.  The  Queen  being  informed  of  this  scene 
exhibited  by  her  frantic  adorer,  it  wrought,  as  was  to  be  expected,  much 
in  favour  of  the  captive  Paladin.  There  is  little  doubt  that  his  quarrel 
with  the  lieutenant  was  entirely  contrived  for  the  purpose  which  it 
produced. 

Note  9. — Robert  Laneham,  p.  227. 

Little  is  known  of  Robert  Laneham,  save  in  his  curious  letter  to  a  friend 
in  London,  giving  an  account  of  Queen  Elizabeth's  entertainments  at  Ken- 
ilwortb,  written  in  a  style  of  the  most  intolerable  affectation,  both  in  point 
of  composition  and  orthography.  He  describes  himself  as  a  bon  t-ivant, 
who  was  wont  to  be  jolly  and  dry  in  the  morning,  and  by  his  good-will 
would  be  chiefly  in  the  company  of  the  ladies.  He  was,  by  the  interest  of 
Lord  Leicester,  clerk  of  the  council-chamber  door,  and  also  keeper  of  the 
same.  "When  council  sits,"  says  he,  "I  am  at  hand.  If  any  makes  a 
babbling,  '  Peace,'  say  I.  If  I  see  a  Ustener  or  a  pryer  in  at  the  chinks  or 
lockhole,  I  am  presently  at  the  bones  of  him.    If  a  friend  comes,  I  make 


NOTES.  515 

him  sit  down  by  me  on  a  form  or  chest.  The  rest  may  walk,  a  God's 
name !  "  There  has  been  seldom  a  better  portrait  of  the  pragmatic  con- 
ceit and  self-importance  of  a  small  man  in  oflSce.    [Compare  Note  16.] 

Note  10. — Scottish  Wild  Cattle,  p.  242. 

A  remnant  of  the  wild  cattle  of  Scotland  are  preserved  at  Chillingham 
Castle,  near  Wooler,  in  Northumberland,  the  seat  of  Lord  Tankerville. 
They  fly  before  strangers  ;  but  if  disturbed  and  followed,  they  turn  with 
fury  on  those  who  persist  in  annoying  them.  [See  also  Bride  of  Lammer- 
moor,  chap,  v.,  and  a  note  to  Castle  Dangerous.'] 

Note  11. — De.  Julio,  p.  2.56. 

The  Earl  of  Leicester's  Italian  physician,  Julio,  was  affirmed  by  his  con- 
temporaries to  be  a  skilful  compounder  of  poisons,  which  he  applied  with 
such  frequency  that  the  Jesuit  Parsons  extols  ironically  the  marvellous 
good  luck  of  this  great  favourite  in  the  opportune  deaths  of  those  who 
stood  in  the  way  of  his  wishes.    There  is  a  curious  passage  on  the  subject: 

"  Long  after  this,  he  fell  in  love  with  the  Lady  Sheffield,  whom  I  signi- 
fied before,  and  then  also  had  he  the  same  fortune  to  have  her  husband 
die  quickly,  with  an  extreme  reume  in  his  head  (as  it  was  given  out),  but 
as  other  say,  of  an [artiiiciall  catarre,  that  stopped  his  breath.  The  like 
good  chance  had  he  in  the  death  of  my  Lord  of  Essex  (as  I  have  said  be- 
fore), and  that  at  a  time  most  fortunate  for  his  purpose  ;  for  when  he  was 
coming  home  from  Ireland,  with  intent  to  revenge  himselfe  upon  my  Lord 
of  Leycester  for  begetting  his  wife  with  childe  in  his  absence  (the  childe 
was  a  daughter,  and  brought  up  by  the  Lady  Shandoies,  W.  Knooles  his 
wife),  my  Lord  of  Ley.  hearing  thereof,  wanted  not  a  friend  or  two  to  ac- 
company the  deputy,  as  among  other  a  couple  of  the  Earles  owne  servants, 
Crompton  (if  I  misse  not  his  name),  yeomen  of  his  bottels,  and  Lloid  his 
secretary,  entertained  afterward  by  my  Lord  of  Leycester,  and  so  he  died 
in  the  way  of  an  extreame  flux,  caused  by  an  Italian  recipe,  and  all  his 
friends  are  well  assured,  the  maker  whereof  was  a  surgion  (as  is  believed) 
that  then  was  newly  come  to  my  Lord  from  Italy--a  cunning  man  and 
sure  in  operation,  with  whom,  if  the  good  Lady  had  beene  sooner  ac- 
quainted, and  used  his  helpe,  she  should  not  have  needed  to  have  srtten  so 
pensive  at  home,  and  fearefull  of  her  husband's  former  returne  out  of  the 
same  countrey.  .  .  .  Neither  must  you  marvaile  though  all  these  died  iu 
divers  manners  of  outward  diseases,  for  this  is  the  excellency  of  the  Italian 
art,  for  which  this  surgion  and  Dr.  Julio  were  entertained  so  carefully,  who 
can  make  a  man  die  in  what  manner  or  shew  of  sicknesse  you  will ;  by 
whose  instructions  no  doubt  but  his  lordship  is  now  cunning,  especially 
adding  also  to  these  the  counsell  of  his  Doctor  Bayly,  a  man  also  not  a 
little  studied  (as  he  seemeth)  in  his  art;  for  I  heard  him  once  myselfe,  in 
publique  act  in  Oxford  (and  that  in  presence  of  my  Lord  of  Leycester  if  I 
be  not  deceived),  maintaine  that  poison  might  so  be  tempered  and  given 
as  it  should  not  appeare  presently,  and  yet  should  kill  the  party  afterward, 
at  what  time  should  be  appointed  ;  which  argument  belike  pleased  well 
his  lordship,  and  therefore  was  chosen  to  be  discussed  in  his  audience,  if  I 
be  not  deceived  of  his  being  that  day  present.  So.  though  one  die  of  a 
flux,  and  another  of  a  catarre,  yet  this  importeth  little  to  the  matter,  bur 
sheweth  rather  the  great  cunning  and  skill  of  the  artificer."— Parsons' j 
Leicister's  Commonwealth,  pp.  23,  24. 


616  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

It  is  unnecessary  to  state  the  numerous  reasons  why  the  earl  is  repre- 
sented in  the  tale  as  being  rather  the  dupe  of  villains  than  the  unprin- 
cipled author  of  their  atrocities.  In  the  later  capacity,  which  a  part  at 
least  of  his  contemporaries  imputed  to  him,  he  would  have  made  a  char- 
acter too  disgustingly  wicked  to  be  useful  for  the  purposes  of  fiction. 

I  have  only  to  add,  that  the  union  of  the  poisoner,  the  quacksalver,  the 
alchemist,  and  the  astrologer  in  the  same  person  was  familiar  to  the  pre- 
tenders to  the  mystic  sciences. 

Note  12. — Pilgrims  to  Kenilworth,  p.  331. 

Dr.  Beattie,  in  his  Castles  of  England  [vol.  i,  p.  214,  1844],  says,  "The 
romance  of  Kenilworth,  it  is  probable,  has  brought  within  the  last  fifteen 
years  more  pilgrims  to  this  town  and  neighbourhood  than  ever  resorted  to 
its  ancient  shrine  of  the  Virgin,  more  knights  and  dames  than  ever  figured 
in  its  tilts  and  tournaments"  {Laing). 

Note  13. — Amy  Robsart  at  Kenilworth,  p.  338. 

The  historical  critic  will  recognize  an  obvious  anachronism  in  the 
Author's  account  of  Amy's  visit  to  Kenilworth  Castle.  The  festivities 
there  took  place  in  July  1575,  several  years  after  the  death  of  the  real  Amy 
Dudley.  It  may  be  mentioned,  however,  that  during  these  festivities  the 
Earl  of  Leicester  was  living  in  secret  wedlock  with  Lady  Sheffield. 

With  reference  to  these  historical  liberties,  see  the  conclusion  to  the 
Monastery  {Laing). 

Note  14. — Chopin,  p.  339. 

The  old  traveller  Coryat,  in  his  amusing  work  called  Crudities  [vol.  ii.  p. 
36] ,  1611,  says  the  chopin  is  a  thing ' '  so  common  in  Venice,  that  no  woman 
whatsoever  goeth  without  it,  either  in  her  house  or  abroad — a  thing  made 
of  wood,  and  covered  with  leather  of  sundry  colours,  some  with  white,  some 
redde,  some  yellow.  It  is  called  a  'chapiny,'  which  they  weare  under 
their  shoes.  .  .  .  There  are  many  of  these  chapineys  of  a  great  height, 
even  half  a  yard  high,  which  maketh  many  of  their  women  that  are  very 
short  seeme  much  taller  than  the  tallest  women  we  have  in  England " 
{Lai7ig), 

Note  15. — Imitation  of  Gascoigne,  p.  376. 

This  is  an  imitation  of  Gascoigne' s  verses  spoken  by  the  herculean  porter, 
as  mentioned  in  the  text.  The  original  may  be  found  in  the  republication 
of  the  Princely  Pleasures  of  Kenilworth,  by  the  same  author,  in  the  History 
of  Kenilworth,  Chiswick,  1821. 

Note  16. — Festivities  at  Kenilworth,  p.  379. 

See  Laneham's  Account  of  the  Qiieen^s  Entertainment  at  KiUingworth  Castle 
in  1575,  a  very  diverting  tract,  written  by  as  great  a  coxcomb  as  ever 
blotted  paper.  [See  Note  9  above.]  The  original  is  extremely  rare,  but  it 
has  been  twice  reprinted;  once  in  Mr.  Nichols's  very  curious  and  interest- 
ing collection  of  the  Progresses  ami  Public  Processions  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  vol. 
i. ;  and  more  lately  in  a  beautiful  antiquarian  publication  termed  Kenil- 
worth Illustrated,  printed  at  Chiswick  for  Merridew  of  Coventry  and  Rad- 
clyfife  of  Birmingham  [1821] .    It  contains  reprints  of  Laneham's  Letter^ 


NOTES.  517 

Gascoigne's  Princely  Progress,  and  other  scarce  pieces,  annotated  with  ac- 
curacy and  ability.  The  Author  takes  the  liberty  to  refer  to  this  work  as 
his  authority  for  the  account  of  the  festivities. 

Note  17. — Elizabeth  and  Leicester,  p.  380. 

To  justify  what  may  be  considered  as  a  high-coloured  picture,  the  Author 
quotes  the  original  of  the  courtly  and  shrewd  Sir  James  Melville,  being 
then  Queen  Mary's  envoy  at  the  Court  of  London. 

"  I  was  required,"  says  Sir  James,  "  to  stay  till  I  had  seen  him  made  Earl 
of  Leicester  and  Baron  of  Denbigh,  with  great  solemnity  at  Westmester ; 
herself  (Elizabeth)  helping  to  put  on  his  ceremonial,  he  sitting  upon  his 
knees  before  her,  keeping  a  great  gravity  and  discreet  behavior ;  but  she 
could  not  refrain  from  putting  her  hand  in  his  neck  to  kittle  {i.e.  tickle) 
him,  smilingly,  the  French  ambassador  and  I  standing  beside  her." — 
Memoirs,  Bannatyne  Edition,  p.  120. 

Note  18. — Italian  Poetry,  p.  390. 

The  incident  alluded  to  occurs  in  the  poem  of  Orlando  Innamorato  of 
Boiardo,  libro  ii.  canto  4,  stanza  26. 

Non  si  ritrova,  etc. 

,     It  may  be  rendered  thus : — 

As  then,  perchance,  unguarded  was  the  tower 

So  enter'd  free  Anglante's  dauntless  knight.  ,    _, 

No  monster  and  no  giant  guard  the  bower  '     ' 

In  whose  recess  reclined  the  fairy  light, 
Robed  in  a  loose  cymar  of  lily  white. 

And  on  her  lap  a  sword  of  breadth  and  might, 
In  whose  broad  blade,  as  in  a  mirror  bright. 

Like  maid  that  trims  her  for  a  festal  night. 
The  fairy  deck'd  her  hair  and  placed  her  coronet  aright. 

Elizabeth's  attachment  to  the  Italian  school  of  poetry  was  singularly 
manifested  on  a  well-known  occasion.  Her  godson,  Sir  John  Harrington, 
having  offended  her  delicacy  by  translating  some  of  the  licentious  passages 
of  the  Orlando  Furioso,  she  imposed  on  him,  as  a  penance,  the  task  of 
rendering  the  ivhole  poem  into  English. 

Note  19. — Furniture  of  Kenilwoeth,  p.  394. 

In  revising  this  work  for  the  present  edition,  I  have  had  the  means  of 
making  some  accurate  additions  to  my  attempt  to  describe  the  princely 
pleasures  of  Kenilworth,  by  the  kindness  of  my  friend  William  Hamper, 
Esq.,  who  had  the  goodness  to  communicate  to  me  an  inventory  of  the 
furniture  of  Kenilworth  in  the  days  of  the  magnificent  Earl  of  Leicester. 
I  have  adorned  the  text  with  some  of  the  splendid  articles  mentioned  in 
the  inventory,  but  antiquaries,  especially,  will  be  desirous  to  see  a  more 
full  specimen  than  the  story  leaves  room  for. 

Extracts  from  Kenilworth  Inventory,  a.  d.  1584. 

A  salte,  ship-fashion,  of  the  mother  of  perle,  garnished  w"'  silver  and 
divers  workes,  warlike  ensignes,  and  ornaments,  with  xvj  peeces  of  ordi- 


518  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

nence.  whereof  ij  on  wheles,  two  anckei's  on  tlie  foreparts,  and  on  the 
stearne  the  image  of  Dame  Fortune  standing  on  a  globe  with  a  flag  in  her 
band.    Pois  xxxij  oz. 

A  gilte  salte  like  a  swann,  mother  of  perle.    Pois  xxx  oz.  iij  q'ters. 

A  George  on  horseback,  of  wood,  painted  and  gilt,  with  a  case  for 
knives  in  the  tayle  of  the  horse,  and  a  case  for  oyster  knives  in  the  brest 
of  the  dragon. 

A  green  barge-cloth,  embrother'd  w*  white  lioris  and  beares. 

A  perfuming  pan,  of  silver.    Pois  xix  oz. 

In  the  halle.    Tabells,  long  andshort,  vj.    Formes,  long  and  short,  xiiij. 

Hangings. 

These  are  minutely  specified,  and  consisted  of  the  following  subjects  in 
tapestry  and  gilt  and  red  leather. 

Flowers,  beasts,  and  pillars  arched.  Forest  worke.  Historic.  Storie  of 
Susanna,  the  Prodigall  Childe,  Saule,  Tobie,  Hercules,  Lady  Fame,  Hawk- 
ing and  Hunting,  Jezabell,  Judith  and  Holofernes,  David,  Abraham,  Samp- 
son, Hippolitus,  Alexander  the  Great,  Naaman  the  Assyrian,  Jacob,  etc. 

Bedsteds,  with  theik  Fcrniture. 

These  are  magnificent  and  numerous.    I  shall  copy,  verbatim,  the 
description  of  what  appears  to  have  been  one  of  the  best. 

A  bedsted  of  wallnutt-tree,  toppe  fashion,  the  pillers  redd  and  var- 
nished, the  ceelor,  tester,  and  single  vallance  of  crimson  sattin,  paned 
with  a  broad  border  of  bone  lace  of  golde  and  silver.  The  tester  richlie 
embrothered  with  my  Lo:  armes  in  a  garland  of  hoppes,  roses,  and  pome- 
granetts,  and  lyned  with  buckerom.  Fyve  curteins  of  crimson  sattin  to 
the  same  bedsted,  striped  downe  with  a  bone  lace  of  gold  and  silver, 
garnished  with  buttons  and  loops  of  crimson  silk  and  golde,  containing 
xiiij  bredths  of  sattin,  and  one  yarde  iy  q'ters  deepe.  The  celor,  vallance, 
and  curteins  lyned  with  cxymson  taffata  sarsenet. 

A  crymson  sattin  counterpointe,  quilted  and  embr:  wilh  a  golde  twi^e, 
and  lyned  with  redd  sarsenet,  being  in  length  iij  yards  good,  and  in 
breadth  iij  scant. 

A  chaise  of  crymson  sattin,  suteable. 

A  fayre  quilte  of  crymson  sattin,  vj  breadths,  iy  yardes  3  q'ters  naile 
deepe,  all  lozenged  over  with  silver  twiste,  in  the  midst  a  cinquefoile 
within  a  garland  of  ragged  staves,  fringed  rounds  aboute  with  a  small 
fringe  of  crymson  silke,  lyned  throughe  with  white  fustian. 

Fyve  plumes  of  coolered  feathers,  garnished  with  bone  lace  and  spangells 
of  goulde  and  silver,  standing  in  cups'  knitt  all  over  with  goulde,  silver, 
;ind  crymson  silk. 

A  carpett  for  a  cupboarde  of  crymson  sattin,  embrothered  with  a  border 
of  goulde  twiste,  aboute  iij  parts  of  it  fringed  with  silk  and  goulde,  lyned 
with  bridges  sattin  ;  in  length  ij  yards,  and  ij  bredths  of  sattin. 

"  Probably  on  the  centre  and  four  corners  of  the  bedstead.  Four  bears 
and  ragged  staves  occupied  a  similar  position  on  another  of  these  sumptu- 
ous pieces  of  furniture. 


NOTES.  519 

There  were  eleven  down  beds  and  ninety  feather  beds,  besides  thirty- 
seven  mattresses. 

Chatees,  Stooles,  and  Cushens. 

These  were  equally  splendid  with  the  beds,  etc.    I  shall  here  copy  that 
which  stands  at  the  head  of  the  list. 

A  chaier  of  crimson  velvet,  the  seate  and  backe  partlie  embrothered,  with 
R.  L.  in  cloth  of  goulde,  the  bears  and  ragged  staffe  in  clothe  of  silver, 
garnished  with  lace  and  fringe  of  goulde,  silver,  and  crimson  silck.  The 
frame  covered  with  velvet,  bonnde  aboute  the  edge  with  goulde  lace,  and 
studded  with  gilte  nailes. 

A  square  stoole  and  a  foote  stoole,  of  crimson  velvet,  fringed  and 
garnished  suteable. 

A  long  cushen  of  crimson  velvet,  embr:  with  the  ragged  staflfe  in  a 
wreathe  of  goulde,  with  my  Lo:  posie  "  Droyte  et  Loyall"  written  in  the 
same,  and  the  l''"  R.  L.  in  clothe  of  goulder  being  garnished  with  lace, 
fringe,  buttons,  and  tassells,  of  gold,  silver,  and  crimson  sUck,  lyned  with 
crimson  tafF:  being  in  length  1  yard  q'ter. 

A  square  cushen,  of  the  like  velvet,  embr:  suteable  to  the  long  cnshen. 

Carpets. 

There  were  10  velvet  catpets  for  tables  and  windows,  49  Turkey  carpets  for 
floors,  and  32  cloth  carpets.    One  of  each  I  will  now  specify. 

A  carpett  of  crimson  velvet,  richlie  embr:  with  my  Lo:  posie,  beares  and 
ragged  staves,  etc.,  of  clothe  of  goulde  and  silver,  garnished  upon  the 
seames  and  aboute  with  golde  lace,  fringed  accordinglie,  lyned  with  crim- 
son taffata  sarsenett,  being  3  breadths  of  velvet,  one  yard  3  q'ters  long. 

Agreat  Turquoy  carpett,  the  grownde  blew,  with  a  list  of  yelloe  at  each 
end,  being  in  length  x  yards,  in  bredthe  iiij  yards  and  q'ter. 

A  long  carpett  of  blew  clothe,  lyned  with  bridges  sattin,  fringed  with 
blew  silck  and  goulde,  in  length  vj  yards  lack  a  q'ter,  the  whole  bredth  of 
the  clothe. 

Pictures. 
Chiefly  described  as  having  curtains. 

The  Queene's  Majestie  (2  great  tables).  3  of  my  Lord.  St.  Jerome.  Lo: 
of  Arundell.  Lord  Mathevers,  Lord  of  Pembroke.  Counte  Egmondt. 
The  Queene  of  Scotts.  King  Philip.  The  Baker's  Daughters.  The  Duke 
of  Feria.  Alexander  Magnus.  Two  Yonge  Ladies.  Pompaea  Sabina. 
Fred:  D.  of  Saxony.  Emp^  Charles.  K.  Philip's  Wife.  Prince  of  Orange 
and  his  Wife.  Marq:  of  Berges  and  his  Wife.  Counte  de  Home.  Count 
Holstrate.  Monsr.  Brederode.  Duke  Alva.  Cardinal  Grandville.  Duches 
of  Parma.  Henrie  E.  of  Pembrooke  and  his  young  Countess.  Countis  of 
Essex.  Occa^on  and  Repentance.  Lord  Mowntacute.  Sir  Ja'- Crofts.  Sir 
W>-- Mildmay.    S'- W°^  Pickering.    Edwin  Abp.  of  York. 

A  tabell  of  an  historic  of  men,  weomen,  and  children,  molden  in  wax. 

A  little  foulding  table  of  ebanie,  garnished  with  white  bone,  wherein  are 
written  verses  with  1''™  of  goulde. 

A  table  of  my  Lord's  armes. 

Pyve  of  the  plannetts,  painted  in  frames. 

Twentie-three  cardes,  or  maps  of  countries. 


620  WAVERLET  NOVELS. 

Instbuments. 

I  shall  give  two  specimens. 

An  instrument  of  organs,  regalls,  and  virginalls,  covered  with  crimson 
velvet,  and  garnished  with  goulde  lace. 
A  fair  pair  of  double  virginalls. 

Cabonktts. 

A  cabonett  of  crimson  sattin,  richlie  embr:  with  a  device  of  hunting  the 
stagg,  in  goulde,  silver,  and  silck,  with  iiij  glasses  in  the  topp  thereof,  xvj 
cupps  of  flowers  made  of  golde,  silver,  and  silck,  in  a  case  of  leather,  lyned 
with  greene  sattin  of  bridges. 

Ano''  of  purple  velvet.    A  desk  of  red  leather. 

A  chess  horde  of  ebanie,  with  checkars  of  christall  and  other  stones, 
layed  with  silver,  garnished  with  beares  and  ragged  staves,  and  cinquefoiles 
of  silver.  The  xxxij  men  likewyse  of  christall  and  other  stones  sett,  the 
one  sorte  in  silver  white,  the  other  gilte,  in  a  case  gilded  and  lyned  with 
green  cotton. 

Ano''  of  bone  and  ebanie.    A  pair  of  tabells  of  bone. 

A  great  brason  candelstick  to  hang  in  the  roofe  of  the  bowse,  verie  fayer 
and  curiouslye  wrought,  with  xx^^iiij  branches,  xij  greate  and  xij  of  lesser 
size,  6  rowlers  and  ij  wings  for  the  spreade  eagle,  xxiiij  socketts  for 
candells,  xij  greater  and  xij  of  a  lesser  sorte,  xxiiij  sawcers,  or  candle- 
cupps,  of  like  propor^on  to  putt  under  the  socketts,  iij  images  of  men  and 
iij  of  weomen,  of  brass,  verie  finely  and  artificiallie  done. 

These  specimens  of  Leicester's  magnificence  may  serve  to  assure  the 
reader  that  it  scarce  lay  in  the  power  of  a  modern  author  to  exaggerate  the 
lavish  style  of  expense  displayed  in  the  princely  pleasures  of  Kenilworth. 

Note  20. — Death  of  the  Earl  of  Leicester,  p.  509. 

In  a  curious  manuscript  copy  of  the  information  given  by  Ben  Jonson 
to  Drummond  of  Hawthornden,  as  abridged  by  Sir  Robert  Sibbald, 
Leicester's  death  is  ascribed  to  poison  administered  as  a  cordial  by  his 
countess,  to  whom  he  had  given  it,  representing  it  to  be  a  restorative  in 
any  faintness,  in  the  hope  that  she  herself  might  be  cut  off  by  using  it. 
We  have  already  quoted  Jonson's  account  of  this  merited  stroke  of  retribu- 
tion (see note  on  p.  7  of  Introduction).  It  may  be  here  added,  that  the 
following  satirical  epitaph  on  Leicester  occurs  in  Drummond's  Collections^ 
but  is  evidently  not  of  his  composition: — 

epitaph  on  the  erle  op  leisteb. 

Here  lies  a  valiant  warrior. 

Who  never  drew  a  sword  ; 
Here  lies  a  noble  courtier. 

Who  never  kept  his  word  ; 
Here  lies  the  Earle  of  Leister, 

Who  govern'd  the  estates, 
Whom  the  earth  could  never  living  love, 

And  the  just  Heaven  now  hates. — 

See  Archseologia  Scotica,  vol.  iv.;  and  the  volume  published  by  the  Shake- 
speare Society,  Notes  on  Ben  Jonson's  Conversations,  p.  24,  1842  {Laing). 


GLOSSARY 

OF 
WORDS,  PHRASES,  AND  ALLUSIONS. 


Abte,  suffer  for 

Accolade,  the  light  touch  made 
with  the  sword  on  the  shoulder 
of  one  who  is  knighted 

Afrite,  an  evil  demon  in  Mahom- 
medan  mythology 

AiGUiLLETTE,  lace  tag 

Albumazar,  a  famous  Arabian  as- 
tronomer, born  in  Persia  near 
close  of  8th  century  a.d.,  wrote 
Flores  Astrologici  (Augsburg, 
1488) ,  and  other  works  on  astrol- 
ogy 

Alicant,  Spanish  wine 

Allan,  or  Allen,  Thomas,  mathe- 
matician (1542-1632),  regarded  by 
the  vulgar  as  a  magician 

Almains,  Germans 

Alter  ego,  second  self 

Almoret,  the  beau-ideal  of  female 
beauty  in  the  Faerie  Queene,  Bk. 
iii. 

Amsterdam,  great  scholar  of. 
Erasmus  was  a  native  not  of  Am- 
sterdam, but  of  Rotterdam. 

Anan,  I  beg  your  pardon?  pres- 
ently 

Angel,  gold  coin  =  10s.  in  Eliza- 
beth's reign 

Another -guess,  another  sort  of, 
kind  of 

Anticly,  grotesquely 

Arcanum,  the  great  secret  of  the 
conversion  of  base  metals  into 
gold 

Argent,  silver 

Arion,  ancient  Greek  poet,  who, 
when  driven  into  the  sea  by  en- 
vious sailors,  was  carried  to  land 
on  a  dolphin's  back 

Arrow,  e'er  a,  ever  a 


Ascapart,  a  giant  overcome  by  Sir 
Be  vis  of  Hampton  (South- 
ampton) 

Ascham,  Roger,  tutor  to  Elizabeth, 
and  royal  secretary  to  Edward 
VI.,  Mary,  and  Elizabeth 

Aspic,  the  asp 

Astra  eegunt,  etc.  (p.  247),  The 
stars  rule  men,  but  God  rules  the 
stars 

A-towling,  a-tolling 

AuTOLYcus,  a  crafty  pedlar  in  Tlie 
Winter's  Tale 

Ave  Maria,  ora  pro  nobis,  Hail 
Mary,  pray  for  us 

AvisED  OF,  aware  of 

Babies,  to  look,  small  images  of 
oneself  reflected  in  the  eyes  of 
another 

Baillie,  Harry,  op  the  Tabard, 
mine  host  of  the  Tabard  Inn  in 
Southwark,  where  Chaucer's  Can- 
terbury Pilgrims  assembled 

Bartholomew  Fair,  held  at  West 
Smithfield,  London,  on  24th  Au- 
gust (3d  September  from  1753),  a 
great  cloth  market  and  pleasure 
fair,  illustrated  in  Ben  Jonson's 
play  Bnrtholomexv  Fair 

Base,  a  plaited  skirt,  sometimes  im- 
itated in  mailed  armour 

Bastard,  a  sweet  Spanish  wine,  re- 
sembling Mugcadel 

Bears,  are  you  there  with  your. 
A  man,  disliking  a  sermon  on 
Elisha  and  the  bears,  went  on 
the  following  Sunday  to  another 
church ;  but  the  sermon  was  on 
the  same  subject,  leading  him  to 
utter  this  exclamation 


522 


WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 


Bear  the  bell,  take  the  first  place; 
comp.  the  bell-wether,  that  guides 
the  flock 

Belianis,  hero  of  the  chivalric  ro- 
mance, Don  Belianis  of  Greece 

Bell  Savage,  or  Belle  Sauvage, 
inn  in  Ludgate  Hill,  London. 
See  Spectator,  No.  28 

Belus,  Bel,  or  Baal,  the  sun-god 
of  Assyrians  and  Babylonians 

Besognio,  worthless  fellow 

Bittern  bump,  the  deep  trumpet- 
like boom  of  the  bittern  or  but- 
ter-bump 

Black  Bull,  perhaps  the  Red  Bull, 
in  St.  John's  Street,  Smithfield  ; 
perhaps  the  Bull  in  Bishopsgate 
Street,  both  theatres 

Black-jack,  a  large  jug  of  waxed 
leather,  for  holding  ale 

Black  Sanctds,  a  burlesque  of  the 
Sanctus  of  the  Roman  missal 

Board  of  Green  Cloth,  a  com- 
mittee of  the  royal  household, 
formerly  charged  with  the  duties 
of  purveyance 

Bona-roba,  a  wench,  a  showy  wan- 
ton 

Boon  whids,  cut,  give  good  words 

Botcher,  a  cobbler,  a  tailor  who 
does  repairs 

B ratchet,  a  little  brat 

Briareus,  the  hundred-armed  giant 
in  ancient  Greek  mythology 

Bridges  sattin,  satin  made  at 
Bruges,  in  Flanders 

Brill,  or  Briel,  captured  in  "1572 
by  the  patriotic  "Beggars  of  the 
Sea,"  who  shortly  after  were  in 
their  turn  besieged  there  by  th-e 
Spaniards 

Burleigh  and  Cecil,  Elizabeth's 
great  statesman  William  Cecil, 
Lord  Burleigh,  and  his  son,  Sir 
Robert  Cecil,  whom  Elizabeth 
made  Secretary  of  State  in  1596 

Bush  over  the  door,  a  sign  that 
the  house  so  adorned  was  an  inn 

Cabala,  a  mystic  system  of  mingled 
philosophy,  theology,  and  magic 
that  originated  amongst  the  Jews 
of  the  "Middle  Ages;  cabalists, 
alchemists,  dealers  in  magic 

Cacodemon,  an  evil  spirit 

Calipolis,  wife  of  the  Moorish 
prince  in  Peele's  play.  The  Battle 
of  Alcazar 

Ca'liver,  16th  century  musket 


Cameeadoes,  comladea 

Camici^,  shirts 

Capotaine,  or  capote,  close-utting 
hat 

Gardes,  charts,  maps 

Casting  bottle,  bottle  for  sprink- 
ling perfumed  waters 

Cateb-cousin,  on  terms  of  close  in- 
timacy 

Catlowdie,  Or  Catlowdy,  a  village 
in  the  extreme  north  of  Cumber- 
land 

Ceelor,  or  CELURE,  bed-hangings, 
a  canopy  covering  a  bed 

C'est  l'homjie  qui,  etc.  (p.  160), 
'Tis  the  man  who  does  the  fight- 
ing and  gives  counsel 

Charlatan:,  charlatans 

CherryI-pit,  a  game  in  which 
cherry-stones  are  thrown  into  a 
hole  in  the  ground 

Chopin,  a  high-soled  shoe,  worn  in 
Spain  and  Italy  about  1600 

Clary,  a  mixture  of  wine,  honey, 
and  spices 

Cockatrices,  prostitutes 

Cod's-head,  fool 

Coslebs,  unwed 

Cog's  wounds,  God's  wounds,  a 
form  of  oath 

Coif,  a  lady's  head-dress 

Coil,  here's  a,  here's  a  to-do, 
pother;  keep  a  coil,  make  a^fuss, 
ado,  about 

CoLBHAND,  a  Danish  giant  slain  by 
Sir  Guy  of  Warwick 

Combust,  astrological  term  applied 
to  a  planet  when  it  is  so  near  to 
the  sun  as  to  be  almost  burnt  up 
or  extingTiished 

Compos  voti,  having  accomplished 
your  wish 

Compter,  a  prison  for  debtors. 
London  had  two  in  the  16th  cen- 
tury, one  in  the  Poultry,  the  other 
in  Wood  Street 

Cordovan,  Spanish  leather 

Corinthian,  a  bully,  adventurer 

CoRHAGio,  courage 

Costard,  the  head 

Cote,  pass,  overtake 

Couchek,  going  to  bed 

Cricket,  a  small,  low  stool 

Cross,  silver  coin  marked  with  a 
cross 

CuLiss,  or  CT7LLIS,  broth  of  boiled 
meat  'strained 

CuRETUR  jentaculum,  Look  after 
the  breakfast 


GLOSSARY. 


523 


Cut  boos  whids,  give  good  words 

CuTTEB,  bully,  sharper;  cutteh's 
LAW,  thieves'  law  ;  cuttikg,  swag- 
gering 

Cyclops,  ok  Cyclopes,  the  assistants 
of  Vulcan,  who  laboured  in  his 
workshops  in  Etna  and  other 
volcanoes 

Cymae,  a  loose,  light  robe 

Cypkcs,  cypress,  or  ciprus,  a  thin, 
transparent  kind  of  crape 

Dan,  a  complimentary  title,  equiva- 
lent to  Master,  sir,  common  with 
the  old  poets 

Daxdiepeat,  dwarf,  urchin 

Deboshed,  debauched 

Dee,  Dr.  John,  a  London  alche- 
mist, who  lived  in  the  reigns  from 
Edward  VI.  to  James  I. 

Devil  looking  over  Lincoln,  a 
phrase  referring  to  one  of  the  fol- 
lowing— a  gargoyle,  shaped  Uke 
a  diabolic  figure  on  a  witch's 
back,  near  the  south  porch  of  the 
cathedral;  a  figure  of  Satan  at 
the  east  end  of  the  south  chapel 
of  the  nave ;  a  figure  of  the  devil 
on  the  top  of  Lincoln  College, 
Oxford 

Diablotin,  little  devil,  mischievous 
young  imp 

Died  without  his  shoes,  i.e.  in  bed 

Difficilium,  etc.  (p.  127),  endur- 
ance of  hardships  from  day  to  day 

Dink,  trim,  tidy 

DioNYSics,  the  Younger,  tyrant  of 
Syracuse,  retired  after  his  second 
expulsion  in  343  b.c.  to  Corinth, 
where  he  is  said  to  have  earned 
his  living  as  a  schoolmaster 

DiRL,  thrill,  vibrate 

Dole.    See  Happy  man  be  his  dole 

Douse,  blow,  stroke 

Drap-de-buee,  or  bure,  coarse 
woollen  stuff 

DuDMAN  AND  Ramhead,  two  capes, 
20  miles  apart,  on  the  Cornish 
coast,  which  of  course  can  never 
meet 

DuERGAR,  or  Dverger,  the  dwarfs 
of  Scandinavian  mythology  and 
folklore 

Duke  of  Norfolk's  affair. 
Thomas  Howard,  4th  Duke,  was 
beheaded  in  1572  for  treasonable 
plotting  in  behalf  of  ^Inry  Queen 
of  Scots  and  the  Eoman  Catholic 
interest 


Electttart,  a  medicine,  consisting 
of  powders,  etc.,  mixed  with 
honey  or  syrup,  and  licked  by 
the  patient 

Ell-wand,  measuring-rod  an  ell 
long 

Erasmus  Ab  Die  Fausto,  Erasmus 
de  Holiday 

Ergo,  heus,  etc.  (p.  130),  So  ho 
there,  Richard,  my  pupil,  come 
hither,  I  pray  thee 

Et  sic  de  ceteris,  and  so  on  with 
the  rest 

EuMENipEs,  Stygiumque  nefas,  the 
Furies  and  the  Stygian  monster 

Excalibue,  famous  sword  of  King 
Arthur 

Ex  nomine,  etc.  (p.  126),  From 
w'hose  name  is  derived  the  com- 
mon word  "gibberish" 

Eye,  by  the,  in  abundance 

Faeer  fereabius,  blacksmith 

Faitoce,  rogue,  hypocrite 

Fald-stqole,  a  folding  stool  or 
chair,  camp-stool 

Fall  back,  fall  edge,  come  what 
may 

Farcy,  a  disease  of  horses 

Fatidic^,  those  who  predict  fate 

Favete  linguis,  keep  silence 

Felix  bis  terque,  twice,  yea,  three 
times  fortunate 

Ferrateen,  perhaps  Ferrandin,  a 
kind  of  poplin ;  perhaps  harba- 
teen,  a  coarse  woollen  cloth 

Festina  lente,  make  haste  slowly, 
don't  be  imi>atient 

Flaw,  a  sudden  and  violent  wind- 
storm 

Flight-shot,  bowshot 

Fcenum  habet  in  corntj,  It  has  hay 
wrapped  about  its  horns — a  pro- 
verbial expression  for  a  danger- 
ous fellow 

Fortune,  the,  a  theatre  in  Alders- 
gate,  London,  opened  about  1600, 
after  the  time  of  this  novel 

Four-nooked,  four-cornered 

Fox,  an  old  name  for  the  .broad- 
sword 

Foxes  and  Firebrands,  or  a  Speci- 
men of  tlic  Danger  and  Harmony 
of  Popery  and  Separation  (1682), 
in  verse,  author  not  positively 
known 

Frippery,  old  clothes 

Furens  quid  femina,  what  a  fren- 
zied woman  (can  do) 


524 


WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 


FcRMiTY,  hulled  wheat  or  rice 
boiled  in  milk,  and  seasoned  with 
currants,  raisins,  etc. 

FusiLLE,  or  FUSIL,  an  elongated 
lozenge,  term  in  heraldry 

Galliaed,  lively,  jaunty 

Galloon,  worsted  lace 

Gambade,  gambol,  curvet 

Gaudet  nomine  Sibylljs,'  She  re- 
joices in  the  name  of  Sibyl 

Gaze,  to  look  attentively  upon 

Gaze-hound,  greyhound 

Gear,  affair,  thing,  business 

Geber,  a  famous  Arabian  alchemist 
of  the  8th  century 

Genethliacally,  by  calculating 
nativities 

Gillian,  Rake.  See  Rare  Gillian 
of  Croydon 

Globe,  the,  a  theatre  on  the  south 
bank  of  the  Thames  between 
London  and  Blackfriars  Bridges 

GoGSNOUNS,  a  similar  corruption  to 
Cog's  wounds  {q.v.) 

Gold  by  the  eye,  money  in  plenty, 
gold  in  abundance 

Golden  opinions,  etc.  (p.  193), 
quoted  from  Macbeth,  act  i.,  sc.  7; 
Shakespeare  is  therefore  alluded  to 

GooDjERE,  or  GOUJEEKS,  a  coarsc  ex- 
pletive, the  pox ! 

Grave  Maurice,  Count  Maurice  of 
Nassau,  second  son  and  successor 
of  William  of  Orange  as  Gover- 
nor of  the  Netherlands 

Groat,  silver  coin  worth  4d. 

Grogram,  or  GROGRAiN,  a  texture 
of  silk  and  mohair  or  silk  and 
wool,  stiffened  with  gum 

Groyne  (the),  old  name  for  Co- 
runna  in  Spain 

Halgaver,  Mayor  of.  See  Mayor 
of  Halgaver 

Hali,  or  Ali  ibn  Aben-Ragel,  an 
Arab  astrologer  of  the  11th  cen- 
tury, wrote  De  Judiciis  Astrorum 
(Venice,  1485) 

Handsel,  earnest-money  of  a  bar- 
gain 

Happy  man  be  his  dole,  may  his 
lot  be  that  of  a  happy  man 

Haro,  an  old  Norman  cry  for  help 

Harrowtry,  heraldry 

Harry  noble.    See  Noble 

Haruspices,  soothsayers,  diviners 

Hays,  or  Hay,  a  country  dance, 
danced  in  a  ring 


Head-borough,  head  of  a  borough^ 

petty  constable 

Heart-spone,  the  depression  in  the 
breast-bone ;  the  breast-bone 

Hermetic,  relating  to  alchemy,  as- 
trology, magic 

Hilding,  a  mean,  worthless  wretch 

HocKTiDE,  second  Tuesday  after 
Easter  day 

HoisE,  to  hoist,  lift 

HoLPED  UP,  embarrassed,  in  a  pickle 

HoR-sE-couRSER,  dealer  in  horses 

HospiTiuM,  inn,  tavern 

HuNSDON,  Lord,  was  Elizabeth's 
first  cousin,  being  the  son  of  her 
mother's  sister 

Incontinent,  immediately 

Incuerpo,  in  plain  undress,  without 
cloak,  naked 

Indamira,  more  correctly  Inda* 
MORA,  the  heroine  of  Dryden's 
tragedy  Aurungzebe 

In  fumo,  in  smoke 

Ingle,  favourite,  intimate 

In  rerum  natura,  as  an  actual  fact 

Iphyclus,  one  of  the  Argonauts, 
and  owner  of  large  herds  of  cattle; 
QUID  hoc,  etc.  (p.  126),  is  a  pro- 
verbial phrase  of  uncertain  origin 

Ivy-tod,  ivy  bush 

Jape,  jest,  trick 

.TowRiNG,  scolding,  cursing 

Juvenal,  a  youth 

Ka  me,  ka  thee,  Help  me,  and  I'll 
help  you 

Keep  a  coil.    See  coil 

Kennel,  the  gutter 

Kernes,  light-armed  foot  soldiers 

King  Cambyses's  vein,  i.e.  bluster- 
ing [and  bullying.  The  original 
character  figures  in  Elkanah 
Settle's  Cambyses  King  of  Persia 
(1671) 

Lachry'm^  (Cheisti),  red  Italian 
wine,  grown  on  the  slopes  of  Mt. 
Vesuvius 

Lacs  d' amour,  laquei  amoris,  love 
snares 

Largesse,  etc.  (p.  394),  Your  gifts, 
your  gifts,  bold  knights 

Left-handed,  morganatic 

Levanter  easterly  Mediterranean 
wind 

Lex  Julia,  law  of  the  Roman  Em- 
peror Augustus,  designed  to  pro- 


GLOSSARY. 


525 


mote     marriage     and      punish 
adultery 

Limber,  supple,  pliant 

LiNDABKiDES,  heroine  in  the  Spanish 
romance  of  The  Mirror  of  Knight- 
hood ;  a  kept  mistress 

Lingua    Latins,    etc.     (p.    123), 
Though  not  altogether  ignorant  of 
Latin,  most  learned  sir,  I  prefer 
to  speak  in  my  mother  tongue 
I  List  (of  yelloe),  edge,  border 
,'  LiTTOCKs,  rags  and  tatters 

Loon,  fellow 

LuciNA  FER  OPEM,  Luciua,  give 
thine  aid.  Lucina  was  the  god- 
dess who  presided  over  childbirth 

LuDi  MAGisTER,  master  of  the 
school ;  also  master  of  children's 
play,  he7ice  holiday-master 

Lyme-hound,  sporting  dog,  that 
hunts  by  scent 

Maddow,  right,  in  all  probability 
mead-wort  or  meadow-sweet  is 
meant,  which,  if  gathered  on  the 
right  day,  St.  John's  Day,  will 
reveal  a  thief 

Madge-howlet,  the  barn  owl 

Maestricht,  besieged  and  sacked 
by  the  Spanish  forces  under 
Alexander  of  Parma  in  1579 

Magister  artium,  the  degree  of 
M.A. 

Magisterium,  the  philosopher's 
stone 

Mandragora,  mandrake,  plant  be- 
lieved to  possess  magic  qualities 

Manna  of  St.  Nicholas  (of  Bari), 
the  clear,  tasteless  poison  sold  by 
the  infamous  hag  Toffania  of 
Naples  in  the  beginning  of  the 
18th  century 

Marcus  Tullius,  i.e.  Cicero,  the 
Roman  orator 

Maro,  i.e.  Virgil,  the  Roman  poet 

Martin  Swart.  The  old  song  in 
which  the  second  verse  (p.  114)  oc- 
curs is  Skelton's  Against  a  Comely 
Coystrowne 

Matamoros,  or  Matamork,  the  con- 
ventional boaster  of  Spanish 
comedy,  the  name  signifying 
"Slayer  of  Moors" 

"  Match  for  match,"  quoth  the 
DEVIL  to  the  collier,  in  the  old 
farce  The  Collier  of  Croydon 

Mayor  of  Halgaver,  an  imagi- 
nary potentate,  similar  to  the 
Mayor  of  Garrat,  •who  enforced 


offences  against  the  unwritten 
laws  of  popular  opinion — A  Cor- 
nish proverb 

Ml  anime,  corculum  meum,  my  life, 
my  little  heart 

Minikin,  minion,  a  little  darling 

MocKADo,  a  mixture  of  silk  and 
wool,  or  of  either  with  flax,  and 
resembling  velveteen 

Monsieur,  the  Duke  of  Anjou, 
youngest  son  of  Henry  II.  of 
France,  a  courtier  and  suitor  of 
Queen  Elizabeth 

Moppet,  pretty  young  girl 

MoRioR,  etc.  (p.  21),  I  die,  I  have 
died,  to  die 

MOUNTAIN-ASH,   Or  ROWAN-TREE,  WaS 

regarded  as  a  safeguard  against 

witchcraft 
Mr.  Bayes's  tragedy,  TJie  Rehearsal 

(1671),   by   George  Villiers,  Duke 

of  Buckingham,  Bayes  being  the 

name  of  the  hero 
MuLciBER,    Vulcan,     the     ancient 

Roman  god  of  fire. 
Murrey,  mulberry-coloured 
Muscadine,  a  rich  sweet  wine 
MusQUETOON,  light,  short  hand-gun 
Muster,  pattern 

NaAS,  THE  TYRANT,  OT  NaHASH,  king 

of  the  Ammonites.    See  1  Sam.  xi. 
Naunton,   Sir   Robert,   author   of 

The  Court  of  Queen  Elizabeth  (1641) 

and  Fragmenta  Regalia  (1642) 
Ne  quisquam,  etc.  (p.  252),  No  one 

but  Ajax  can  conquer  Ajax 
Ne  semissem  quidem,  not  a  single 

groat 
Nether-stocks,  stockings 
Nil  ultra,  nothing  beyond 
Noble,  a  gold  coin==6s.  8d. ;  Harry 

NOBLE,  a  noble  coined  in  the  reign 

of  Henry  VIII.;  rose  noble,  noble 

bearing  representation  of  a  rose, 

first  coined  under  Edward  VI., 

and  worth  10s. 
Nonsuch,  a  royal  castle.  3  or  4  miles 

from  Epsom  in  Surrey 
Nooning,  rest  and  repast  at  noon 
Nostra  paupera  regna,  our  poor 

domains 
NuG.E,  trifles 
NuMiNiBUs,    etc.   (p.  123),  prayers 

heard  by  unfriendly  deities 

Oberon,  vision  of,  from  Midsummer 
Night's  Dream,  which  was  not 
acted   until  1600.    Shakisfeabb 


526 


WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 


himself  was  only  a  boy  at  the  date 
of  this  romance 

0  c^cA  MENS  MOETALiuM,  O  dark- 
ened mind  of  man 

Or,  gold 

Ordinaky,  eating  house 

Orion,  a  gigantic  hunter  of  hand- 
some appearance ;  See  Homer's 
Odyssey,  Bks.  v.  and  xi. 

Palabras,  talk,  palaver 

Pantoufle,  slipper 

Parcel,  partly 

Paropa,  a  kind  of  textile  material. 

/Sfc Taylor  (Water-Poet),  Praise  of 

Hempseed 
Partlet,  covering  for  a  woman's 

neck  and  shoulders,  kerchief 
Parvo    contentus,     content    with 

little 
Passant,   walking  —  term   in  her- 
aldry 
Pass-devant,  a  fashionable  dress,  a 

dress  worn  atda.nces 
Passtime  of  the   People,    a   rare 

chronicle  (1529)  by  John  Rastell 
Patienta,  patience 
Pauca  verba,  (say)  few  words,  have 

done 
Perdue,  hidden,  in  concealment 
Per  pale,  by  a  vertical  line  ;  said  of 

an  esciitcheon 
Pert-S)sa  BARBARA  LOQUEL^,  heart- 
ily sick  of  a  language  not  her  own 
Pewit,  the  lapwing 
Phaeton,  the  charioteer  of  the  Sun 
Philippine  Cheney,  that  is  Philip 

and  Cheney   (i.e.  China),   some 

kind  of  worsted  or  woollen  stuff. 

"  Philip  and  Cheney,"  is  an  early 

equivalent  of  "Dick-,  Tom,  and 

Harry  " 
Phrenesis,  violent  madness,  frenzy 
Picaroon,  one  who  lives  by  his  wits ; 

a  rogue 
Piccadilloe,  sort  of  deep  stiff  collar 
PizE,  term  of  mild  execration 
Place  of  removal,  cell,  or  pSace  of 

confinement 
PoKiNG-AWL,   rod    for  curling   the 

ruff,  sometimes  used  as  a  stiletto 
Portmantle,  portmanteau 
Port  St.  Mary's,  town  in  the  bay 

of  Cadiz,  Spain 
Post  Christum   katum,    after   the 

birth  of  Christ,  a.d. 
Potosi,  a  town  in  South  America 

(Bolivia)  with  rich  silver  mines, 

famous  since  the  Spanish  conquest 


Peecisian.  Puritan 

Primo  Henrici  Septimi,  in  the  first 
year  of  Henry  VII. 's  reign 

Pkincox,  or  princock,  a  coxcomb 

Profecto,  literally  so 

Projection,  the  process  of  trans- 
muting metals,  especially  the  ac- 
tual fusing  of  the  metals  in  the 
crucible 

Provant  rapier,  army  sword 

Puckfist,  a  niggardly  person 

PusEY  horn.  The  manor  of  Pusey 
in  Berkshire  is  held  by  virtue  of 
an  oxhorn,  presented  to  the  Pusey 
family  by  Canute  the  Great 

Quasi  lucus  a  non  lucendo,  for  the 
reverse  of  the  most  obvious  reason, 
for  an  absurd  reason 

Quid  mihi  cum  caballo?  What 
have  I  to  do  with  the  nag  ? 

Quintilian,  celebrated  Roman 
grammarian  and  teacher  of 
rhetoric  of  the  1st  century  a.d. 

Rabatine,  broad  collar 

Raddle,  thrash,  beat 

Ram's  alley,  off  Fleet  Street  and 
near  Whitefriars,  a  resort  of 
thieves  and  bad  characters,  and 
noted  for  its  dirty  cookshops ; 
now  called  Hare  Place 

Rare  Gillian  of  Croydon,  if  the 
old  farce.  The  Collier  of  Croydon,  is 
meant,  for  Gillian  read  Marian 

Raro  antecedentem,  an  allusion  to 
a  passage  in  Horace's  Odes,  iii.  2,  in 
which  punishment  is  said  nearly 
always  to  dog  the  heels  of  the  evil- 
doer 

Rash,  species  of  inferior  silk 

Ratcliffe,  or  Radcliffe,  Earl  of 
Sussex,  was  Robert,  not  Thomas 

Recte  quidem,  etc.  <p.  322),  As- 
suredly we  are,  most  worthy  sir 

Reeve,  steward 

Regalls,  or  REGAL,  a  small  portable 
organ 

Reguardant,  turned  to  look  back 

RiCARDE,  ADsis,  NEBULO,  Richard, 
you  idle  scamp,  come  hither 

Robertson,  William,  Scottish  his- 
torian, died  in  1793 

Rosy  Cross,  order  of,  or  Rosiceu- 
ciANS,  mystical  philosophers,  who 
professed  the  transmutation  of 
metals,  alchemy,  magic,  etc. : 
flourished  jirincipally  in  17th  and 
18th  centuries 


GLOSSARY, 


527 


EotrNDELL,  anythicg  round,  an  ar- 
ticle of  feminine  attire 
RuFFLEH,  bully,  swaggerer 

Sadler,  Sib  Ralph,  whom  Eliza- 
beth employed  in  her  dealings 
with  Scotland ;  he  was  educated 
under  Thomas  Cromwell,  Earl  of 
Essex 

St.  Antonlin's,  or  rather  St.  An- 
tholin's,  a  church  (pulled  down. 
1874)  in  Watling  Straet,  London, 
where  in  1599  the  Puyitans  began 
to  hold  very  early  morning  ser- 
vices 

St.  Austen's  Eve.  St.  Augustine's 
(Austin's)  Day  was  28th  August 

St.  Barnaby,  or  Babna  bas.  the  com- 
panion of  St.  Paul 

St.  John's  Berg,  the  Rhine  wine 
known  as  Johannisberger 

St.  Julian,  patron  saint  of  travel- 
lers and  hospitality 

St.  Lucy's  Eve,  18th  September.  St. 
Lucy  was  the  "daughter  to  a 
king  of  the  Scots,"  lived  in  soli- 
tude beside  the  river  Meuse  in 
France,  and  died  in  1090 

St.  Luke's  Hospital,  asylum  in 
Moorfields,  London 

St.  Michael's  Mount,  rock  off  the 
Cornish  coast,  near  Penzance 

St.  Petee  of  the  Fetters,  best  ex- 
plained by  a  refer'^nce  to  Acts  sii. 
I  The  chains  with  which  the  Apos- 
tle was  bound,  were,  it  is  said, 
'  carried  to  Rome  by  Eudocia,  wife 
of  Theodosius  the  Younger,  in 
439,  and  from  that  time  regarded 
with  almost  idolatrous  veneration 

Saltim  banqui,  quacks,  mounte- 
banks 

Salve,  domine,  etc.  (p.  123),  Hail, 
sir,  dost  thou  understand  Latin 

Salving  the  weapon,  etc.  (p.  126), 
as  for  instance  with  Sir  Kenelm 
Digby's  sympathetic  powder 

Santo  Diavolo,  St.  Satan 

Sarsenet,  thin,  soft  woven  silk 

Savin,  oil  of  juniper 

Scholar,  great,  of  Amsterdam! 
should  be,  of  Rotterdam,  where 
Erasmus  was  born 

Sconce,  a  fort,  detached  outwork 

Scot  aiJt)  Lot,  rates  and  taxes 

Scroyle,  a  mean  fellow,  wretch 

Seiant,  sitting,  a  term  in  heraldry 

Seven  sleepers,  martyrs  of  Ephe- 
sus,  who,  according  to  the  legend, 


slept  nearly  two  hundred  years  in 
a  cave,  from  the  reign  of  the  Em- 
peror Decius  to  that  of  Theodo- 
sius II 

Shag,  sort  of  rough  cloth 

Sheres,  Jeres,  town  in  Spain,  fa- 
mous lor  its  wine  (sherry) 

She-wolv  of  France,  Isabella, 
daughter  of  Philip  V.,  king  of 
France 

Shooter's  Hill,  near  Greenwich,  a 
favourite  haunt  of  highwaymen 

Shot-window,  window  projecting 
from  a  wall,  used  for  defence 

Shovel-board,  in  which  the  players 
pushed  pieces  of  money  or  count- 
ers on  to  certain  lines  and  squares 
on  a  board 

Shrewsbury,  Countess  of.  Queen 
Mary  was  at  this  time  in  the  cus- 
tody of  the  Earl  of  Shrewsbury 

Sidney,  Philip,  the  gallant  poet 
and  soldier  who  fell  before  Zut- 
phen  in  Holland  in  1586 

Sieve  and  shears,  divination  by 
means  of  a  sieve  and  a  pair  of 
shears 

Si  fixum  solvas,  etc.  (p.  144),  If 
you  dissolve  a  fixed  substance 
and  make  the  solution  tly,  and 
then  fix  it  again,  being  volatile, 
you  will  live  safe  and  sound ;  if 
the  process  causes  a  wind,  it  is 
worth  a  hundred  pieces  of  gold. 
The  wind  blows  where  it  lists. 
Catch  who  catch  can 

Sine  prole,  childless 

Sir  Pandarus  of  Troy,  chief  of 
thfi  Lycians  in  the  Trojan  War, 
but  degraded  in  the  romances  of 
chivalry  to  a  pimp  or  procurer 

Sib  Talbot,  a  dog's  name 

Skelton's  Books,  or  fuller,  Certaine 
Bokes  compiled  by  Master  Skeltov, 
Poet  Lanreat,  of  various  contents 

Skene,  short  sword,  knife 

Skinker,  a  tapster 

Sleuth-hound,  bloodhound 

Slocket,  to  convey  things  privately 
out  of  the  house 

Slop,  sort  of  trousers ;  a  long,  loose 
outer  sack-like  garment 

Smock-faced,  of  girlish  face  or  com- 
plexion 

Snails,  an  oath,  corrupted  from 
Christ's  (God's)  nails,  with  which 
his  hands  and  feet  were  pierced 

Snick  up,  go,  go  and  be  hanged ! 
"Snick  up,"  or  "sneck  up,"  is 


528 


WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 


possibly  a  corruption  of  *'  Lis 
neck  up" 

Spital,  hospital 

Spitchcocked,  split  and  broiled 

Stand  and  deliver,  the  formula 
of  highwaymen 

Startup,  high-topped  shoe,  bus- 
kin 

Stirabout,  oatmeal  and  dripping 
stirred  together  in  a  frying-pan 
whilst  cooking 

S  T  o  u  p ,  a  drinking-vessel,  liquid 
measure 

Strappado,  a  military  punishment; 
the  offender  was  drawn  to  a  con- 
siderable height  and  suddenly  let 
fall 

Sufflamina,  be  silent 

Swarf,  faint  swoon 

Swashing,  bullying,  bragging 

Taffeta,  silk  stuff 

Tarleton,  the  player,  was  Rich- 
ard Tarlton,  (died  1588),  a  comic 
actor  and  jester,  patronised  by 
Leicester 

Tau,  letter,  from  the  Greek  alpha- 
bet, corresponds  to  "t" 

Tent  stitch,  single  stitch  in  worsted 
work  and  embroidery 

Tertio  Mari^,  the  third  year  of 
Mary's  reign,  1556 

Three  Crakes  in  the  Vintrt,  a 
celebrated  tavern  in  Upper 
Thames  Street,  between  London 
Bridge  and  Blackfriars  Bridge 

Trismegistus,  the  name  given  in 
the  early  Christian  ages  to  the 
Egyptian  god  Thoth,  whom  the 
Ancient  Greeks  identified  with 
their  god  Hermes.  Trismegistus 
was  regarded  by  the  alchemists 
as  a  father  of  their  art 

Trowl,  to  pass  round 

Truepenny,  the  name  Hamlet  ap- 
plies to  his  Father's  Ghost  in  Act 
i.  sc.  5 

TuGURiA,  huts,  cottages 

TURNBALL,     or     TURNBULL,     StREET, 

now  Turnmill  Street,  near  Clerk- 
enwell,  formerly  a  resort  of  bul- 
lies and  low  characters 

Twin  streams  (p.  221),  the  Rhone 
and  the  Saone.  See  Caesar,  JDe 
Bell.  Gall.  Bk.  i. 

Ttbubn  tippet,  halter 


Tyke,  a  dog 

Uno  atulso,  etc.  (p.  127),  when  one 

has  been  torn  off,  another  grows 

in  its  place 
Untimeously,  untimely 
Up  sey  es,  a  corrupted  Dutch  or 

German  phrase,  meaning  toss  it 

off!  here  it  goes! 

Vails,  a  windfall,  tip,  gratuity 
given  to  servants 

Vanbrugh,  Sir  John,  dramatist 
and  architect  of  Queen  Anne's 
reign 

Varium  et  mutabile,  changeful 
and  capricious 

Venlo,  was  besieged,  but  unsuccess- 
fully, by  the  Spaniards  in  Novem- 
ber 1578 

Via  !  away !  '^'r  ' 

Virginal,  small  harpsichord  or 
old-fashioned  piano  without  legs 

Vogue  la  galere,  come  what  may 

VoTo  A  Dios,  Spanish  oath  of  men- 
ace. By  God ! 

Wassail,  spiced  ale  or  wine 

Watchet,  pale  blue 

"  What  man  that  sees,"  etc.   (p. 

182),   from    Spenser's   Cantos  on 

Mutability,    a   fragment   of   the 

Faerie  Queene 
Whiteboy,  pet,  darling,  a  term  of 

endearment 
White  witch,  wizard  or  witch  of 

beneficent  disposition 
Whittle,  a  large  knife,  generally 

one  carried  in  the  girdle 
Wife   of  Bath,   one  of  Chaucer's 

Canterbury  Pilgrims 
Willoughby,    Lord,    Peregrine 

Bertie,  Lord  Willoughby  de  Eres- 

by,  a  distinguished  soldier,  hero 

of  the  ballad  of  "  The  Brave  Lord 

Willoughby" 
Witch's  elm,  or  rather  rowan-tree, 

as  in    the   passage   a  few  para-    ^ 

graphs  lower  down  (p.  130)  \ 

Witch's  mark,  a  wart  or  mark,  in-       " 

sensible   to   pain,  made   by   the 

devil  on  his  vassals 
Won'd,  dwelt 
Wus,  know 
Wyvern,  a  winged  dragon,  a  hei> 

aldic  term 


INDEX. 


Abiasd,  Amy  Rohsart,  qnoted,  511 
Aglionby,  Recorder   of  Warwick, 

333 
Alasco,  Holiday's  account  of,  127; 

Way  land's,    143;    his    interview 

with  Leicester,  246 ;  with  Varney, 

250;  sent  down  to  Cumnor,  257; 

his  specious  casuistry,  300 ;  found 

dead,  503 
Ashraole,   Antiquities  of  Berkshire, 

quoted,  6,  511 
Astrology,  belief  in,  143,  246,  300 
Aubrey,  Correspondence,  quoted,  514 
Author's  Introduction,  5 

Badger,  Will,  the  huntsman,  114 ; 

describes  his  master's  condition, 

156 
Bear,  the  Leicester  cognizance,  97 
Bear-baiting,  described,  233 
Seattle,  Castles  of  England,  quoted, 

516 
Black  Bear  Inn,  Cumnor,  13,  259, 

511 
Blount,   Nicholas,   at  Say's  Court, 

180;  sent  to  court  to  make  Sussex's 

apologies,  189 ;  his  gay  dress,  369 ; 

knighted,  392 ;    his  astonishment 

at  court  intrigues,  483 
Boiardo,  Orlando  Innamorato,  517 
Burleigh,  advises  the  Queen,  485 

Camdkn's  Britannia,  quoted,  513 

Chopin,  or'chapiney,  Coryat  on,  516 

Coryat,  Crudities,  quoted,  516 

Coventry  custom,  473 

Coxe,  Captain,  of  Coventry,  473 

Crane,  Mistress,  150 

Crank,  Dame,  151 

Cumnor,  village,  13 ;  Black  Bear 
Inn,  13,  259,  511 ;  park,  38 ;  Hall 
or  Place,  42,  511 ;  apartments  at, 
70 ;  secret  trap-door,  503 

Cumnor  Hall,  poem,  8,  511 

Curate  of  Lidcote,  158 

DoBOOBiE,  Dr.     See  Alasco 
34 


Elizabeth,  Queen,  her  mode  of 
governing,  178  ;  on  the  river,  193 ; 
her  attention  drawn  to  Raleigh, 
194 ;  visits  Say's  Court,  200 ;  holds 
court  at  Greenwich,  208 ;  cross- 
questions  Varney,  213 ;  gives  audi- 
ence to  Tressilian,  218 ;  receives 
Leicester  on  her  barge,  229 ;  com- 
pletes Raleigh's  verse,  238;  her 
peculiar  temper,  278 ;  entry  into 
Kenilworth,  373 ;  calls  for  Amy, 
383;  discovers  her  in  the  grotto, 
414 ;  scene  with  Leicester,  418 ; 
her  anger  on  his  disclosure,  484 

Evelyn,  Mr,,  178 

Flibbertigibbet,  130;  guides  Tres- 
silian, 132 ;  blows  up  the  smithy, 
148 ;  replies  to  Varney's  questions, 
322;  makes  himself  known  to 
Wayland,  324 ;  his  inquisitive- 
ness,  324,  349 ;  drops  upon  Way- 
land's  horse,  338  ;  astonishes  the 
porter,  341 ;  prompts  him,  376 ; 
stays  Leicester,  477  ;  explains  his 
behavior,  480 

Foster,  Anthony,  28  ;  personal  ap- 
pearance of,  43;  interview  with 
Lambourne,  46 ;  his  conversations 
with  Varney,  60,  98 ;  attempts  to 
quiet  Lambourne,  274 ;  quotes 
Scripture  to  Amy,  293  ;  brings  the 
poison  to  Amy,  296 ;  prays  in  his 
sleep,  494 ;  arranges  the  trap,  506 ; 
his  end,  508;  the  real  Anthony 
Forster,  511 

Foster,  Janet,  60,  74 ;  declines  the 
earl's  ring,  89 ;  her  dislike  to  the 
pedlar,  269;  overhears  Lam- 
boume's  ravings,  273;  intercepts 
the  poison,  297 ;  aids  Amy  to  es- 
cape, 303  ;  weds  Wayland,  508 

Gascoigne,  imitation  of,  370,  510 
Goldthred,    Laurence,   the    mercer, 
20;    tells  of  the  lady  at  Cumnor 
Place,  29 ;  his  wager  with  Lam- 


530 


INDEX. 


Hourne,  32;  carouses  with  him, 
263 ;  his  horse  seized  by  Way- 
land,  314 

Cosling,  Cicely,  36 

Uosling,  Giles,  landlord  of  the  Black 
Bear,  13 ;  his  concern  about  Tres- 
silian,  23 ;  conversation  with  him. 
Ill;  sends  Wayland  to  Cumnor 
Place,  266 

Grimesby,  Gaffer,  149 

Hakrington,  Sir  John,  278,  517 
Hobgoblin.,   See  Flibbertigibbet 
Holiday,  Erasmus,  122,  125 
Hostler,  Jack,  of  Marlborough,  150 
Hunsdon,  Lord,  420,  470 

Inteoduction,  Author's,  5 

JrLio,  Dr.,  515 

Ke^iilworth,  the  novel,  5 

Kenilworth  Castle,  334 ;  royal  entry 
into,  372 ;  entertainments  at,  377, 
454,  472,  516 ;  pilgrims  to,  516  ; 
furniture  in,  517 

Lambourne,  Michael,  returns  to 
Cumnor,  14  ;  his  wager  with  Gold- 
thred,  32;  visits  Foster,  42,  54; 
interrupts  Varney  and  Tressilian, 
57 ;  taken  into  Varney' s  service, 
103;  takes  Alasco  to  Cumnor, 
257  ;  commands  Fosterto  the  inn, 
.264 ;  his  drunken  ravings,  274 ; 
encounter  with  Tressilian  at  Ken- 
ilworth,  356  ;  turns  Wayland  out 
of  the  castle,  363  ;  his  welcome  to 
the  Queen,  379;  enters  Amy's 
apartment,  405;  sent  after  Var- 
ney, 463,  his  death,  492 ;  shot  by 
Varney,  500;  note  on  his  name, 
512 

Laneham,  Robert,  pays  court  to 
Leicester,  226 ;  his  description  of 
Kenilworth's  festivities,  379,  516  ; 
account  of  him,  514 

Leicester,  Earl  of,  visits  Amy  at 
Cumnor,  84  ;  offers  Janet  a  pres- 
ent, 89;  talks  of  retiring  from 
court,  92  ;  takes  farewell  of  Amy, 
95  ;  at  Woodstock,  108  ;  in  con- 
sultation with  Varney,  202,  243, 
280,  395,  426  •  summoned  to  Green- 
wich, 206 ;  difficulties  of  his  posi- 
tion, 222,  277;  courted  by  Lane- 
)iam,  226 ;  summoned  to  the 
Queen's  barge,  228 ;  Consults 
Alasco,  246 ;  receives  the  Queen 
at   Kenilworth,    380 ;    his   dress. 


382;  love  passages  with  the  Queen. 
412,  517 ;  confronted  with  Amy, 
419  ;  last  interview  with  her,  429  ; 
his  desperate  strait,  435  ;  fatal  de- 
cision, 444 ;  gives  Varney  his  sig- 
net ring,  451 ;  accosted  by  Tres- 
silian, 458 ;  sends  Lambourne 
after  Varney,  463 ;  his  meeting 
with  Tressilian,  466,  476;  inter- 
rupted by  Flibbertigibbet,  477; 
before  the  Queen,  484 ;  his  death, 
520 

Leicester's  Commonwealth,  7,  515 

Lidcote  Hall,  155 

Masters,  the  physician,  turned 
away  by  Raleigh,  187  ;  his  report 
as  to  Amy's  condition,  453 

Mervyn's  Bower,  Kenilworth,  344 

Mickle,  author  of  Cumnor  Hall,  8, 
511 

Mumblazen,  Master,  157 ;  gives  his 
purse  to  Tressilian,  166 

"  Of  all  the  birds  on  bush  or  tree,"  26 
Orvietan,  or  Venice  treacle,  177,  51? 

Paget,  Lady,  237 
Pedlars,  time  of  tale,  259 
Pinnit,  Orson,  petition  of,  231 
Pleasance,  at  Kenilworth,  344,  409 
Porter,  gigantic,  atKenilworth,  339 ; 
his  address  to  the  Queen,  376 

Raleigh,  Walter,  at  Say's  Court, 
180 ;  refuses  to  admit  Dr.  Masters, 
187  ;  accompanies  Blount  to  court, 
189 ;  lays  down  his  cloak  for  the 
Queen,  192 ;  in  the  royal  barge, 
194;  recites  the  "Vision  of  Obe- 
ron,"  235 :  writes  on  the  window- 
pane,  238;  at  Kenilworth,  368; 
knighted,  392;  sets  off  for  Cum- 
nor, 491 ;  Aubrey's  description  of, 
514 ;  his  skill  as  a  courtier,  514 

Robsart,  Amy,  Goldthred's  account 
of,  29  ;  interview  with  Tressilian, 
51 ;  reception  of  Varney,  59 ;  _  in 
her  new  apartments,  73  ;  interview 
with  Varney,  77 ;  visit  of  Lei- 
cester, 84  ;  Leicester  takes  farewell, 
95;  buys  from  the  pedlar,  269; 
her  tastes  and  training,  286,  327 ; 
exciting  interview  with  Varney, 
289 ;  drinks  the  poison,  302 ;  es- 
capes from  Cumnor,  304  ;  entrusts 
herselfto  Wayland,  311;  amongst 
the  masquers,  321;  her  irresolu- 
tion, 328 ;  on  the  way  to  Kenil- 
worth, 331 ;  enters  the  chase,  337 ; 


INDEX. 


531 


in  Kenilworth  Castle,  340;  gives 
Wayland  tlie  letter,  345 ;  discov- 
ered by  Tressilian,  352 ;  her  case 
before  the  Queen,  383;  in  Mervyn's 
Bower,  •402  ;  her  privacy  invaded 
by  Lambourne,  405 ;  discovered 
by  the  Queen,  414 ;  screens  Leices- 
ter. 421 ;  put  in  confinement,  422 ; 
last  interview  with  Leicester,  429 ; 
slandered  by  Varney,  439 ;  car- 
ried back  to  Cumnor,  493 ;  arrives 
there,  501 ;  her  death,  506 ;  an- 
achronisms regarding,  516 
Kobsart,  Sir  Hugh,  114,  158,  509 
Robsart,  Sir  Roger,  113,  159 
Rutland,  Duchess  of,  proposes  Ra- 
leigh for  knighthood,  392 

Say's  CouKT,  178 

Shakspeare,  225,  232,  234 ;  his  "Vi- 
sion of  Oberon,"  235 

Shrewsbury,  Earl  of,  420,  484 

Sludge,  Gammer.  122 

Sludge,  Richard.  See  Flibberti- 
gibbet 

Staples,  Laurence,  362,  407 

Sussex,  Earl  of,  his  letter  to  Tres- 
silian, 168;  his  lineage,  179;  takes 
Wayland's  drugs,  185  ;  surprised 
by  Elizabeth,  200 ;  summoned  to 
Greenwich,  206;  supports  Orson 
Pinnit's  petition,  231;  proposes 
Blount  for  knighthood,  391 ;  his 
jealousy  of  Leicester,  513 

Swart,  Martin,  113,  512 

TiDEE,  Robin,  493 
Tracy,  Earl  of  Sussex's  man,  187 
Tressilian,  Edmund,  at  Cumnor, 
22 ;  his  interest  in  the  lady,  30 ; 
joins  Lambourne  in  his  wager, 
32 ;  visits  Cumnor  Place,  42 ;  his 
interview  with  Amy,  51 ;  encoun- 
ter with  Varney,  56 ;  conversation 
with  Giles  Gosling,  111 ;  in  the 
Vale  of  Whitehorse,  121 ;  inter- 
view with  Wayland,  138 ;  at  Marl- 
borough, 149 ;  arrives  at  Lidcote 
Hall,  154 ;  summoned  to  court 
by  Sussex,  168;  goes  with  Way- 
land  to  buy  drugs.  173 ;  arrives 
at  Say's  Court,  180 ;  before  the 
Queen,  218 ;  returns  to  Kenil- 
worth, 350  ;  discovers  Amy  in 
Mervyn's  Bower,  352  ;  meeting 
with  Lambourne,  356;  hears 
Wayland's  report,  359 ;  offends 
the  Queen,  385  ;  accosts  Leicester, 
458;    fights   with   him,  468,  476; 


saved  by  Flibbertigibbet,  477; 
summoned  before  the  Queen,  483 ; 
sets  off  for  Cumnor,  491;  his  end, 
509 

Varney,  Richard,  encounter  with 
Tressilian,  56 ;  reception  of,  by 
Amy,  59;  conversation  with 
Foster,  60 ;  interview  with  Amy, 
77  ;  in  counsel  with  Leicester,  92, 
202,  243.  280,  395,  426;  consults 
with  Foster,  98  ;  takes  Lambourne 
into  his  service,  103 ;  refused  ad- 
mission by  Bowyer,  207;  examined 
by  the  Queen,  213  ;  his  talk  with 
Alasco,  250 ;  sends  him  to  Cimi- 
nor,  257 ;  ominous  visit  to  Amy, 
289 ;  constrains  her  to  take  the 
poison,  301 ;  overtakes  the  mas- 
quers, 322 ;  presents  the  certifi- 
cates, 384 ;  knighted,  390;  extri- 
cates Leicester  from  his  dilemma, 
421;  argues  with  him,  437,  448; 
slanders  Amy,  439  ;  carries  her  off 
to  Cumnor,  494 ;  shoots  Lam- 
bourne, 500;  imitates  Leicester's 
whistle,  506  ;  his  suicide,  508 

Venice  treacle,  or  orvietan,  177, 513. 

Wayland  Smith,  Holiday's  account 
of,  127 ;  surprised  by  Tressilian. 
138 ;  his  history,  142 ;  his  haunt 
blown  up,  148 ;  at  Marlborough, 
149  ;  gives  a  draught  to  Sir  Hujrh 
Robsart,  166;  buys  drugs,  173; 
prescribes  for  the  Earl  of  Sussex, 
184 ;  his  fear  of  Alasco,  241 ;  sent 
down  to  Cumnor.  242;  disguised 
as  a  pedlar,  259  ;  has  audience  of 
Amy,  269 ;  guides  her  to  Kenil- 
worth, 311 ;  appropriates  Gold- 
thred's  horse,  314 ;  mingles  with 
the  masquers,  321 ;  accosted  by 
Flibbertigibbet,  324 ;  on  the  way 
to  K  e  n  i  1  w  o  r  t  h .  331 ;  enters  the 
chase,  3.37  ;  watches  for  Tressilian, 
348  ;  loss  of  the  letter,  360 ;  ex- 
pelled by  Lambourne,  363 ;  ap- 
pears before  Leicester  and  Tres- 
silian, 479 :  weds  Janet  Foster, 
508;  note  on,  from  Camden's 
Britniuiiii,  513 
"What  stir,  what  turmoil,"  376 
Whiteliorse.  Vale  of,  121,  513 
Wild  cattle,  Scottish,  242,  515 
Willoughbv.  Lord.  230 
Woodstock  Park,  106 

YoGLAN,  the  Jew,  174 


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